One concept that I try to incorporate into my life on a continual basis is the 80/20 rule. It just makes so much sense. Stating that 80% of the profit of anything comes from 20% of the work or effort, this concept is also known as Pareto's Principle and is named after the Italian Economist who discovered it. It closely holds true in many different contexts:
- 80% of one's income comes from 20% of one's clientele
- 80% of customer complaints come from 20% of a store's customers
- 80% of a school's discipline problems come from 20% of the students
- Cleaning 20% of one's house brings 80% of the satisfaction found therein
- You gain 80% of the knowledge in a book by reading only 20% of it
Each of us brings a variety of talents and skills to our chosen profession.
But there is usually one skill — or set of skills — at which we are especially proficient that makes us successful at work. Some have estimated that of all our skills, talents, and abilities, this one set, at which we are extremely proficient, comprises approximately 20% of our total abilities. This 20% results in 80% of our personal effectiveness.
To truly excel, one should identify which of our skills comprise our key 20% , focus our improvement efforts on them, and use and exploit them to our — and our employer’s — benefit.
In other words, we specialize. We don’t ignore our skills that lie outside that 20%. If we did, they would wither and atrophy, robbing us of an additional 20% of effectiveness. The other 80% is, instead, outsourced or delegated. Here are some examples:
- Those chefs on the Food Network concentrate on the cooking while assistants set up, clean up, and do the dishes.
- The surgeon focuses on the surgery and a subordinate physician closes.
- The entertainer sings while the graphic artists, sound engineers, financial
managers, and agents make CD artwork, edit the sound tracks, pay the
singer’s bills, and schedule and promote personal appearances. - Fighter pilots fly the missions and work on improving their flying abilities
while maintenance crews maintain, repair, and refuel the aircraft.
When one concentrates on his or her 20% spike, not only does productivity and efficacy improve, but one becomes a more valuable commodity within the organization. More respect is given and a greater latitude is offered as one goes about their assigned tasks.
In my organization, one particular supervisor is well known for driving morale down, putting fear in the hearts of employees, and increasing employee turnover. She is still highly respected within my organization because of her 20% spike. She is a turn-around specialist. Give her a poor performing department and it is known that within a short time, she will turn it around and into a high performance award-winning machine that other departments envy. She stays a short time, produces the results, and then moves on to the next challenge. Her effect on staff and morale is forgiven. She is highly valued and is given one challenging department after another. Others handle clean-up.
Look at your profession and responsibilities.
What is your key 20%? How can you build on and improve it?
What less important things can be delegated or outsourced to give you more time to work with and improve your 20%?
