You may have heard the phrase, “What you put in is what you will get out,” which essentially means the quality of the output is directly proportional to the quality of the input. There is also another principle that most people wouldn’t recognize when defined by the principle’s founder Vilfredo Pareto in 1896, but its meaning becomes clearer when it is defined simply as a rule. When applying this particular rule, it is better to be represented by the lower percentage value, even though experience suggests that the lower value might be inflated by roughly 10%. The rule that I am referencing is the 80/20 rule, which states, 80% of your results are produced by 20% of your efforts or in other words the vast majority of outcomes (80%) stem from a minority of inputs (20%). When correlated to manpower it can be stated that 80% of productivity correlates to the efforts of 20% of your workforce, which is an unequal distribution. This doesn’t mean that 80% of the workforce isn’t contributing but more-so the contribution of the 20% carries the weight. While the Pareto Principle suggests that 20% of a group drives 80% of its results, modern shifts in work ethic—particularly evident in the current generation—suggest an even sharper divide. We may be approaching a reality where 10% of an organization’s workforce shoulders the weight for the remaining 90%. It’s a compelling thought but the reality is that we all have a choice. Do we want to be part of the least that gives the most or part of the most that gives the least?
Where The Lesser Value Means More; Pareto Principle Redefined
