In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country. He observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. After Pareto, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise.

In the 1940s, Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran, recognized a universal principle which he called the vital few and the trivial many. A lack of precision on Jurans part made it appear that he was applying Paretos observations about economics to his own observations. As a result, Jurans vital few theory became known as Paretos Principle commonly known as the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 Rule states that with anything time, resources, space, priorities, goals, and activities only 20% are vital and 80% (many) are trivial. Or 20% of the resources produce 80% of the results. In Paretos case it meant that 20% of the people had 80% of the wealth. In Jurans initial work, he identified that 20% of the defects caused 80% of the problems.

Are any of these true for you?

? 80% of what you file is never looked at again. The other 20% is referenced occasionally or frequently.

? 20% of your products or services account for 80% of your sales.

? 80% of your measurable results will come from 20% of the activities on your To Do list.

? 20% of your people produce 80% of your results.

? 80% of decisions come from 20% of all meetings.

? 80% of your managerial concerns are caused by 20% of the identified problems.

? 80% of a managers interruptions come from the same 20% of persons.

? 80% of customer complaints concern the same 20% of your products or services.

You need to focus 80% of your time, energy, and resources on top priorities. This principle alone will give you maximum productivity and results. Try it!