What Amazing, Cheap Guitars Really Teach Us About Work

Are you experience-oriented or results-oriented?

Guitarists are obsessed with comparing cheap guitars to their expensive counterparts. YouTube is full of videos like, “Is a $4000 Fender really 10x better than a $400 Squier?!”

The results are usually shocking.

If you just close your eyes and listen, cheap and expensive guitars often sound very, very similar. To the untrained ear they sound identical.

So, what gives? Why would anyone pay $4000 for a guitar if a $400 counterpart sounds the same?

What these comparison videos and their viewers often miss is that the primary difference between cheap and expensive guitars isn’t tone. It’s feel.

Cheap guitars are built in factories on assembly lines, as quickly as possible in order to keep costs down. Expensive guitars are built by individual master luthiers, who take their time in order to provide the highest level of craftsmanship.

The playing experience couldn’t be more different. Expensive guitars are effortless to play, because they were built with the player’s experience as the priority.

Whereas cheap guitars are often very difficult to play - the frets are sharp and uneven, it’s difficult to keep the guitar in tune, the hardware has burrs or harsh edges that are uncomfortable for your hand, the strings sit high off the fretboard.

And so, although to the listener they may sound nearly identical (in the hands of a great guitarist), the playing experience on a cheap guitar can be frustrating. You have to fight against the guitar to get the results you want. Which means you’re going to play it less often and for less time, and be less inspired when you do.

So, what’s that got to do with us at work?

The modern world of work is so focused on outcomes that we often forget how critical the experience of getting those results is to the results themselves.

What experience are you creating for your colleagues, customers, or clients?

It’s no longer enough to simply be good at your job, to deliver great results. You’re expected to deliver great results, and there’s no shortage of talent in this world.

What sets you apart in the sea of talent and one of the most competitive economies in modern history is your ability to make others feel heard, understood, and valued in the process of getting those results.