I’m always puzzled by people’s obsession with quantity over quality when it comes to creative ideas.

You don’t need ten okay ideas.

You need one great one. Then you put it everywhere.

I went looking for an analogy to bring this thought to life. I found it in this (possibly apocryphal) story – posted in the comments thread of a blog post about context dictating content:

I once stopped to listen to two buskers at Chancery Lane tube station. They were between the two escalators, so you could hear them from the top of the first escalator, all the way down to the bottom of the second – but not on the platform.

They were pretty good. They played Norwegian Wood – two guitars, harmonised vocals – loads of energy – really good.

So I stood and listened to the first verse, then the chorus, then the second verse and chorus … first verse again, chorus, second verse, chorus first…

And they just kept looping over and over again!

To me, that’s perfect context. No one would hear them for longer than the escalator journey, so they just kept playing that one perfectly practiced song.

Whatever you’re communicating, it’s a privilege when someone takes the time to absorb your idea. So it better be your best one – polished to perfection.

Make a killer single. Not an album full of filler.