Jobs isn't merely ranking the size of accomplishments—he's rejecting the productivity cult's insistence that more is always better. The subtle danger he's spotting is how easily we mistake motion for progress, how a calendar filled with small wins can mask the absence of anything truly remarkable. When a surgeon performs one flawless operation instead of rushing through three mediocre ones, or when a writer spends months perfecting a single essay rather than churning out a dozen forgettable pieces, that discipline to wait for excellence becomes the real competitive advantage. The quote cuts against our modern nervous habit of equating busyness with importance.