80% of what you want probably comes from 20% of what you do
How Small, Strategic Efforts Can Lead to Significant Improvements in Your Work and Life
"Everything in life is a tussle between effort and results, inputs and outputs, causes and consequences. However, effort and results are not symmetrical. There are some easy things you can do that will lead to great results. There are some hard things you can do which lead to poor results."
These are the first two bullet points from Richard Kock's book The 80/20 Principle.
He goes on to say:
"A few methods, causes, ideas, inputs, or uses of time, money, and people power will lead to great results; most will lead to poor results. Avoid hard work. Don't push water uphill. Be very selective in what you do. Have a great life."
Looking at things through an 80/20 lens can significantly improve our daily lives.
Each individual can be more effective and happier.
Each team can become more efficient and productive and have a bigger impact.
The 80/20 principle is a powerful heuristic. A small proportion of causes, inputs, or efforts leads to a significant majority of results.
The great majority of effort or resources are, therefore, essentially wasted.
This is the 80/20 rule - commonly referred to as the Pareto Principle.
Assuming 50% of causes or inputs will account for 50% of results or outputs is a fallacy, one of the mental maps that commonly operate within the workplace. It is the big implicit assumption (rarely exposed) that people operate as though it is true.
For those who grasp it, the reality is that people of equal intelligence, skill, and competence can produce outsized results as a result of small differences—such as focusing on what will have the outsized impact.
This is why successful organisations segment their clients into different categories depending on their profitability. Hint: If you haven't done this already, you should do so!
Top tier: access to senior executives, invitations to scarce events, and more favourable terms and conditions.
Middle tier: access to experienced people, access to information, offered standard terms and conditions.
Bottom tier: pushed to junior and entry-level staff or even lower touch with automated solutions.
It isn't rocket science.
And yet, many people will not apply the same rigorous and commercial focus to how they spend their scarce time and attention.
Any system you use needs to recognise that your job involves juggling multiple roles and competing priorities and then make space for the most important of those in your system.
🏋️ Monthly Challenge: Reflect ➡️ Learn ➡️ Behaviour change ➡️ Business impact ➡️ New habit
"Knowledge that cannot be applied will soon be forgotten."
So, with that in mind and the reminder of the 80/20 rule - something you no doubt already knew but had either forgotten or not recently received a strong enough nudge to do something about - what areas of your working week can you experiment with?
Here are two prompts just to get your reflective juices flowing:
Are you spending 80% of your time in back-to-back meetings with little to see from it? If so, how could you use your time to make a greater impact?
Who do you spend your time with? Are you spending 80% of your time with the 20% high performers or the 20% bottom performers?
📫 - A quote that I am currently pondering
"The only member of an orchestra who doesn't produce any music directly, the conductor, like a CEO, is entirely dependent on others to deliver results."
Elena Botelho and Kim Powell (The CEO next door)
🧾 - An absorbing and insightful (short) read
How to have a more productive year - by Cal Newport
🤔 - If you did have the answer to this question, what would it be?
If your assumptions are wrong, what might you expect to see?