Effort = quality is what we’ve been conditioned to believe is true. Perhaps we want to believe it is true. And if an audience wants to believe that the equation is true, that’s fine.
But if you are a creator, there is nothing more harmful for your quality control system to believe that effort = quality.
Sure, any work that has had a lot of effort (and blood, sweat, tears, any bodily fluid of your choice) can be of immense quality. I’m not denying that.
But if you are one of the creators that believe that what you have made must be good because of the enormous effort spent on it, then have you examined the reality carefully enough?
The effort that goes into your work can reach a point where you are making unhelpful changes to your fantastic piece of work.
Sometimes, the best ideas come out with little effort. Just like that.