How to use Bell Curve for Success?

Most of the times we think about Bell curve only for performance management. However, Bell curve when used as a probability distribution tool, can teach us a lot about how to set expectations and determine goals for success.

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Your Position on the Curve

Reflect on where you currently stand on the bell curve of success and where do you want to be. Identify where you perceive yourself to be in relation to others and the goals you have set for yourself. This can help you gain a realistic perspective on your progress and provide motivation to strive for further growth and improvement.

Knowing where you want to be and what it takes to get there can improve your chances of success.

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Understand the Distribution of Success/ Outcomes to set the right expectations

Visualize the bell curve and imagine it as a representation of the distribution of success outcomes across a population. At one end of the curve, you have individuals who have achieved extraordinary success in the areas you defined. At the other end, you have individuals who have achieved less success or are still in the early stages of their journey. The majority of individuals fall somewhere in the middle, representing varying degrees of success.

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This is not always a representation of their skills. It just means that the probability of all the factors (skills, conditions, opportunities and outcome) working in tandem to generate extraordinary success is low.

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Learning from Outliers (both Successful and otherwise) and those who are in between

We try to emulate the people on the right margin - the people who are the outliers and exceptionally successful.

On the contrary, we can learn just as much if not more, from the moderately successful people and those who couldn't make it due to multiple reasons.

Everyone considers studying individuals who have achieved high levels of success in the areas they aspire to. You might be tempted to examine their strategies, habits, and mindset to gain inspiration and learn from their experiences. Similarly, I recommend you analyze individuals who are at different points along the curve, including those who may have faced setbacks or challenges. Learning from both successes and failures can provide a more holistic understanding of the factors that contribute to success.

Debate Between Pareto and Bell Curve

Finally you might have encountered a lot of debate around Pareto and Bell Curve - which of these is a more appropriate distribution to follow.

In my experience, Execution Plans are best made using a Pareto - Focus on the 20% things which create 80% of the impact and do them well. But realistic expectations about Success and hence goal setting is done better using the Normal Distribution a.k.a a Bell curve.

P.S: This is one of those mixing Math and Life posts. I welcome suggestions on how I can make it more layperson friendly.