Doing less is more
In 1897, an Italian sociologist by the name of Vilfredo Pareto was studying patterns of wealth in 19th century England. He discovered in his sample that a majority of wealth was controlled by a minority of people. Even though this was not unusual to him and others, he was surprised by two other facts that had significant implications.
First, there was a consistent mathematical correlation between the percentage of people who enjoyed the wealth and the value of their assets. In other words, if 80 percent of the wealth was controlled by 20 percent of the population, then it could be reliably predicted that 10 percent of the people would own, say for example, 60 percent of the wealth. The major point is not so much the percentages, but that there was a predictable imbalance in the distribution of wealth.
His second discovery was even more revelational to him. This imbalance was not isolated to wealth distribution in England at the time of his study; it was consistently repeated in the records he examined that referred to different countries or different time periods. This same pattern of imbalance repeated itself with predictable mathematical precision.
Pareto was a genius at finding patterns, but he was not as brilliant explaining his discovery, so the significance of his 80/20 Principle, as it is usually called, lay dormant until after World War II. Even a hundred years later, the principle is known by some, but utilized by few.
Basically, this principle, which is also know as the Pareto Law or the Principle of Least Effort, states that there is an imbalance between effort and results. Little children constantly plead their case to parents with the “that’s not fair” mantra, when in reality they are unwittingly stating the principle that Pareto discovered over one hundred years ago: That life really is not fair.
Those who understand the 80/20 Principle unlock this imbalance to tip the scales in their favor. They seem to coast through life, relationships, business, or whatever with an unnatural ease and aplomb that perturbs others around them. If you are not familiar with the Principle, it is difficult to understand because it just seems counter-intuitive. We are taught that all causes will have about the same affect, and business owners tend to treat all customers as equally valuable. There are fairness laws that mandate that all employees in a particular category are to be treated fairly—when in reality, all employees and all customers are not the same.
Please understand that this is not an injunction to discriminate or promote social injustice. Racism and bigotry should not be tolerated. What we are saying is that people should be treated fairly; however, they should also be evaluated fairly by an agreed upon criteria that identifies the real value of their contribution to the organization based on their capability to make that contribution.
Customers and employees—even how we spend our time—should be evaluated according to the value they represent to the results that are expected. Some employees have perfected the art of looking busy, but they accomplishing little. Some customers want top-end service, but contribute little to the bottom line, and if you examine how you spend your time, you may realize that a lot of your activities at work do not take advantage of your talents and abilities.
The Pareto Principle prescribes that doing less can actually be more—if it means that you do less of the things that either someone else could or should be doing, and you concentrate your efforts on those activities that represents the most valuable use of your time. These are the activities that build relationships and produce the greatest results.
Knowing what not to do or whom not to associate with can give you an enormous advantage because it frees you to do things that are more rewarding and productive—even if that free time is spent relaxing, meditating, or playing golf (doing less). That time will reenergize you so that you can tackle more of the 20 percent of activities that gives you 80 percent of the results, you will retain the 20 percent of employees that do 80 percent of the productive work, and you will identify that small portion of your customers who generate the majority of your revenue.
Doing less can mean more to you and your business, if it means knowing what you should stop doing or limit your time doing, and then concentrating your efforts on those things that bring you greater results and enhance your relationships with key people in your life.
(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They have consulted with over 400 businesses in 40 different industries. For better business results go to BizResults.biz to read previous articles.)
