The 80/20 Principle

The 80/20 Principle

Many of us experience life as if the results are due to the amount of work we put forth. We tend to overcomplicate things by focusing on volume.?

As a gardener, I learn a lot when I am tending to my plants and can relate to what Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian Economist discovered. While he was dabbling in his tomato garden, he discovered that hard work does not necessarily yield large quantities.??Roughly 20% of his plants were yielding 80% percent of the fruit.??From this observation, the “80/20 Principle” was developed.??I have experienced the same in my own garden and in my life.?

How the 80/20 Rule Works in Our Lives

The 80/20 rule is a description of input versus output and mainly how roughly 80% of outcomes are from 20% of causes or effort.???It’s not always the exact number-for-number percentage but the proportion generally stays around those figures.?

This law dictates some random statistical facts, but also the outcome of our efforts. The most interesting thing about this principle is that it applies to pretty much everything.?

Consider these examples:?

-???20% of a company’s customers are responsible for 80% of the sales

-???20% of (inexperienced) drivers cause 80% of all traffic accidents

Also Known as The Law of the Vital Few

Another name for 80/20 Principle is,” The?Law of the Vital Few”.???

In order to identify the vital few, the right questions must be asked. The right questions depend on where you’re trying to apply the law.

·???????What am I trying to improve??

·???????Which 20% of my efforts lead to 80% of my outcomes?

The same questions can be turned around:

·???????From where does 80% of my problems come?

Focusing on high volume isn’t always the capital choice. The bulk of your prosperity comes from a small number of things you do in your day-to-day life.?

Once you learn to identify the things that can be ignored and concentrate your efforts on crucial components that drive you forward, you'll notice how small amounts of effort focused on meaningful things will move you closer to your goals, far more than campaigns of uncoordinated actions that focus on quantity rather than quality.?

We deceive ourselves when we fill our agenda with tasks, thinking we’re being productive and effective only to discover that there were a few important actions that propelled the results we seek.??As discussed in a previous article https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-change-procrastination-hardwiring-dr-laverne-adams , doing a lot of tasks can be a form of procrastination.

How To Prioritize Using the Law of The Vital Few?

The only way you can get better at using this law is by testing.??Do different iterations. Remove things from your routine and see what makes a quantifiable difference. Remember, while you do this kind of analysis, cutting things might be difficult.??You’ll know you’re doing it right if the answers to the questions you ask make you uncomfortable.?

Look for uneven distributions, then start using that to your advantage. Look for the small things that make a huge difference. During your transformation, remember that most things don’t make a huge impact.??

Enjoy the Journey,

Dr. LaVerne

Dr. LaVerne Adams, ICF PCC, is the Chancellor of the Rich Coaches Academy, an ICF accredited coach training program focused on helping mature professional women of diverse backgrounds to be highly effective, in high demand, and higher income earners. Please go to https://richcoachesacademy.com for more info.?

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