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by Ted.Duboise@quiltjazz.com
A little play on word's for our modern society! The term is actually called "the Pareto Principle".
I felt that this was an excellent topic to begin A Series of Dots. I want to make you think. Huh? Yes, actually think! About what? I want you to think about what tasks you spend most of your time doing. Running a business requires a lot of multitasking: doing lots of thinks simultaneously. No, I did not mispell thinks. While doing task, we are thinking about other tasks - thus - lots of thinks. Although critical to results, all tasks do not have the same priority!
Sometimes we get so involved in trying to make all things happen at the same time that we really do not maximize our results. We have to learn to focus! Focus on well-planned priorities. Focusing is what made me think of this subject and decide to begin the Series with it.
The Pareto Principle
The term was coined by business management thinker Joseph M. Juran in 1906. Juran named the principle after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto had observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. Thus, through the years, it has become a common rule of thumb that 80% of sales comes from 20% of customers. The Pareto Principle today is known as the 80/20 rule. 20% of your employees produce 80% of the results. 20% of defects causes 80% of the problems. The 80/20 rule can be applied to almost anything.
Is It Really True?
I believe this is one of the greatest secrets to becoming highly effective in your business and in your personal life! There are numerous books, studies, and statistical courses based on this principle. I think one of the best (and very easy to read) is written by Richard Koch:Living The 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More . I think you will agree, that if you could pinpoint the tasks that produce the most results, then those are the ones that you should spend the most time doing. Very little of what we spend our time on really counts. If we were to focus, and I mean a fanatical focus, on those things that really matter the most, we could harness the enormous potential of the 80/20 principle. If you spent 80% of your time working on the top 20% of results-producing task, what would your results be? Your effectiveness would be transformed in your business and in your personal life!
How Can the 80/20 Rule Help Me?
You have to make it help you! Listen to me! Here is a process in which you can spend much less time and achieve much, much more. The 80/20 principle will increase your results, raise your personal effectiveness, and elevate your happiness. Take the time to sit down and determine which tasks that you do produces the most results. Make your list and prioritize each task with a number from one to twenty. Make sure that you list the tasks in correct order of importance. This exercise alone will force you to look at each task you do during a day and actually determine how important that task is and how relevant that task is to results. Now, you know that the top four items on that list will require 80% of your time. Again, it is critical to determine the highest-priority results-oriented tasks.
In a nutshell, here's your plan:
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Determine which tasks produce the greatest results
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Prioritize your list from 1 to 20
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Focus 80% of your time on the top four
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Have the discipline to stick to your plan
That last step is having the utmost discipline to carry out your plan. Plan your work and work your plan! As I stated earlier, there are numerous works and resources related to this topic. I hope I've spurred you into studying further and making the Pareto Principle an in-depth part of your life and in managing your business. I have listed a few of my resources in the next column.
Copyright 2008, Spirit Equities
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