In biology there is a theory known as the r/K selection theory which relates to two different general methods that species appear to use to ensure their offspring mature to adulthood.

In simplified terms, high r animals prioritize quantity, i.e. have a lot of babies and send them out on their own and a few of them will probably figure it out and survive to adulthood.

For example, think of fish or rodents.

While high K animals focus on quality, i.e. have a small number of babies but invest a lot of time into making sure that most, if not all, of them survive to adulthood.

Think of humans or bears or elephants.

This is pretty easy to see translated to different strategies for content creators as well.

A high r content creator might produce a ton of content that is mostly off-the-cuff in hopes that something resonates with someone.

Meanwhile a high K content creator would spend a lot of time making sure that each piece of content was as impactful as it could be, therefore the total amount of content would be less due to longer planning and production times.

So, based on the quantity of your outputs and your time investment in each one, where do you fall on the spectrum from high r to high K content creator?

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P.S. Apparently biologists refer to these two reproductive strategies as “cheap” and “expensive” respectively, which also seems relevant to the corresponding content creation strategy.

P.P.S. I think this concept would make an interesting pairing with last week’s linear vs circular media idea in your next content strategy conversation.