80:20 Rule

Pareto Principle

I became curious about the 80:20 Rule while reading a book by Michael Oliver.

I looked up 80:20 Rule on Wikipedia:

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.

Michale Oliver asks the question, "...what if the reason that 20% of the people do 80% of the business, is that the 20% made up the rules?..."

I like to think that I do a lot of thinking... I never thought of THAT!

As I add new knowledge into my consciousness and integrate it with what I know, it occurs to me that this is another reason why we should not confuse "strategy" with "goal."

Here's what I get from this: I pick a goal that's big enough to be worth having and then I pick a strategy that I know has allowed other people to achieve that goal and I give it the effort it deserves with the guidance of the mentors I respect. If the "rules" don't allow me to achieve "20%" status in a reasonable time, I make reasoned, careful adaptations to the rules so I can be in the "20%". I also get that I need to be present to the effect of my "rules" on my partners. If I am a stand for their success, I must be able to adapt to rules that get them into the "20%" too.

How does this land on you?

MSS