The 80/20 rule
In: Culture
Just to add in the good answers that have already been posted, here’s a real world example.
Let’s say you have a bad habit of running late to work. You could list out all of the reasons why you could be late – you overslept, there was bad traffic, you lost your keys in the morning, you had a flat tire, your car battery was dead, etc.
All of those are legitimate reasons you could be late for work. But for most people (myself included), the reason you are late is usually because you overslept or there was bad traffic. So those are the items you should focus your solutions on. Wake up when you alarm first goes off and build in a little extra time in your commute for bad traffic.
Sure, every now and then you might wake up to a dead battery or flat tire, but those cases are rare and not worth that much of your attention. This is especially true in a business environment when you only have limited resources to attack an issue or defect.
Last thing to point out is that it’s not so much of a “rule” as it is an idea. So I wouldn’t take the 80/20 split too literally, but use it more as a tool focus your attention on the solutions that will give you the most bang for your buck. Fixing every tiny defect in your life, business, process, etc. is usually not realistic nor worth your time.
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