Status: adult

Tags: productivity building models

Pareto’s Principle

A heuristic within economics and productivity stating roughly 80% of the results stem from 20% of the causes:

Pareto first noticed 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.

  • In business 80% of the revenue will come from 20% of the customers.
  • In skill acquisition 80% of the skill will come from a core 20% sub-skill
  • Language is more disproportionate at 1000 words accounting for 70-80% of comprehension.

The main implication for productivity: What 20% of critical tasks can I focus on that generates 80% of the outcome I desire? Inversely, what 80% of tasks am I doing that only account for 20% of outcomes?

This is a powerful filter for prioritization in productivity.

Reference

Vilfredo Pareto Italian Economist Productivity Building Models