Quantity vs qualitty

We all know about the KPI - your worth is measured by how many papers you published. Simple logic leads to the Minimum Publishable Unit (MPU) as the solution. Change the material = 1 MPU. Change 1 parameter = 1 MPU. Lots of MPUs = more papers than anyone else = higher KPI = fast promotions! Sigh... does it have to be this way? About 80% of all papers have only 0-1 citations... wouldn't it be better to just aim for a few high quality papers?