A content operation is the system around your content: a format library, a filming rhythm, a research engine, and a publishing line, so output does not depend on your motivation. You need one once posting has become a job you cannot keep doing by feel.
They do not guess. They run a research loop: study the accounts in their niche, find the videos that far outperformed the account's own average, work out why those worked, and turn that into next week's content. Ideas become a process, not a moment of inspiration.
Three to five short-form videos a week is the realistic sweet spot for most creators: enough for the algorithm to learn and for you to improve, few enough to keep quality up and stay consistent for months. Consistency over time beats volume in bursts every time.
Yes, but study the outliers, not the averages, and steal the pattern, not the video. Find the Reels that beat an account's own baseline by a wide margin, work out why, and adapt the structure to your niche and voice. Copying whole videos is what fails; learning patterns is what works.