Why Successful People Are Very Few?

Have you ever wondered why success seems concentrated in the hands of a few? To explore this, let's delve into two powerful concepts: Price's Law and Pareto's Principle.

Price's Law is a mathematical principle that states that a small number of individuals in any organization or group are responsible for a large portion of the total output or results. Named after Derek J. de Solla Price, a British sociologist and science historian who introduced it in 1965, this law posits that the square root of the number of contributors generates approximately 50% of an organization's output. For instance, in an advertising agency with 100 employees, only 10 (the square root of 100) are responsible for half of the company's total output. As the organization expands, the number of individuals producing 50% of the output decreases exponentially.

Price formulated his law based on the observation that the number of scientists in a field of research who had published more than a certain number of papers was roughly proportional to the reciprocal of the square root of the number of papers they had published. He argued that this pattern would apply to many other fields as well.

The reasoning behind this law is that creativity, innovation, and productivity are not evenly distributed among people, and some individuals will be more productive than others.

It's important to note that Price's Law is not a strict law but rather a general observation and doesn't always apply. However, look around within your own teams. Does Price’s Law apply there? Maybe yes!

Another concept that we are more familiar with is Pareto's Principle. Pareto's Principle, commonly known as the 80/20 rule, asserts that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of the causes. In a business setting, this could mean that 80% of sales might come from 20% of customers, or 80% of organizational impact comes from 20% of the employees. Beyond business, a 2002 report from Microsoft found that 80% of the errors and crashes in Windows and Office are caused by 20% of the entire pool of bugs detected. Similarly, 20% of the world's population controls 82.7% of the world's income, the largest 20 countries make up 70% of the people on Earth, and 20 most successful sport nations earn 71% of the medals.

So, is there a pattern emerging by combining Price’s Law and Pareto’s Principle that could be helpful for us professionals? To answer this question, let’s consider an example:

Imagine a few trainees from B-schools joining an organization under the same sales manager. A few of these trainees may have a natural affinity for the sales role and enjoy the sector they have ended up in their first job. The manager (being a good leader) is unbiased and tries to commit equal attention to each of them as they come on board. At month-end, only a proportion of the trainees start to contribute towards the sales manager’s targets, largely those who have a natural love for sales and enjoy the sector they have landed up in. After a couple of months of reviewing performance, the manager (of course stretched for his time) starts naturally devoting more of his time to the higher performers, who are contributing more towards his targets. This pattern continues for a few weeks until the more productive trainees overshadow the others. Now, the manager’s time and energy get highly skewed towards the higher performers.

From this advantageous position of recognition, incentives, and attention from the manager, the winning trainees have a better ability to perform and succeed, which in turn gives these trainees an even bigger confidence boost. This process gets repeated month after month until the A players (that is what the high-performing trainees are now called by their manager), who began as only slightly better than the others, now outperform by a distance.

What makes successful people successful?- They Love What They Do, and/or Do What They Love!

Theories like Price’s Law and Pareto’s Principle are merely ideas and may not necessarily hold up in every single situation. So before we polarize between right and wrong, let’s stop and think about what we can learn.

Jerry Seinfeld, in his recent commencement speech at Duke University, says: “Don’t blame work. Work is wonderful. I definitely will not be looking back on my life wishing I worked less. If that’s not how you feel at work, quit.”

What I take away from this speech is to never fall prey to what others think you should be doing. Follow your values, your inner calling, because at some point in time you will regret having not done it more than “having done and failed”! Most of us, including myself, fall prey to getting stuck in our jobs. The rut is obvious; however, the fear of letting go is powerful enough for us to stay where we are. The Pareto principle kicks in, and we see ourselves missing that promotion, the coveted project, and usually stuck on the other side of the bell-curve argument.

Look at your current job. Are you in an advantageous position to create substantial value? If the answer is Yes, be at it. If the answer is No, move on to where you can.

"Your job is not just to do what your parents say, what your teachers say, what society says, but to figure out what your heart calling is and be led by that." - Oprah Winfrey

Every beginning starts small. Even having a new thought is a good starting point. Assess what you enjoy and don’t enjoy at work. What can you seek more from your manager, and what can you delegate more to others? Is there a side hustle that you can prepare for? Is there a coach you can get on board to question your limiting beliefs and hold you accountable? Is there an old friend who started off on his own and can be your inspiration?

In summary!

Success is not equally distributed, and understanding the dynamics of Price’s Law and Pareto’s Principle can help us recognize why. The key takeaway is to focus on what you love and excel at. Be mindful of where your efforts yield the most impact, and strive to position yourself in roles that align with your strengths and passions. By doing so, you can maximize your potential and create substantial value in your professional journey. Remember, your career success is largely influenced by finding the right balance between passion, effort, and strategic focus