Pareto Distribution

Named after the Italian civil engineer and economist, Vilfredo Pareto, and most commonly referred to as the 80-20 rule, Pareto distribution is one of the cornerstones to successful enterprise development. In a nutshell, Pareto distribution projects that approximately 80% of outcomes (outputs) are produced by 20% of the work (inputs). After learning about this rule in 2021, Pareto distribution, as a concept, quickly became revolutionary in my business life.

Like my peers, I was raised to work hard, and always do my best. Whether studying at a young age or balancing academics with business ventures as a young adult, I had grown accustomed to patting myself on the back after a busy day. The problem I was not acknowledging was that I had gotten used to feeling accomplished after finishing 80% of the tasks I planned for the day. This tendency meant I usually became satisfied with my progress at that point (80%), and would usually stop working past that point approximately. This habit quickly became normal to me and, just like my peers, I would attribute the discrepancy to natural human tendencies to rest between bouts of work. After understanding this rule, however, I immediately realized I had been aiming for a much lower mark than my potential. I realized that it might be possible that I was missing out on 80% of the results due to my inaction. If I could work the extra 20%, I might be exceptionally more productive in the long run.

Once I acted on this hypothesis, I realized that it was true. I may not have been missing out on 80% of results daily, however, there were days I was failing to attain my potential by making excuses for my complacency. The point of working hard as a young adult is to ensure the future for myself, and my family, and to give myself a chance to do real good in the world. If that is the goal, failing to capitalize on my time was not only an error, it was truly tragic.

I am writing this post to raise awareness around this rule and to potentially motivate you, the reader, to also entertain the possibility that you may be missing out on most of your potential by settling for 80% productivity. Aim to get more done than you initially planned, go above and beyond, breaking the boundaries of what you thought was possible. In this way, you will overcome your limits and, in this process, you will effectively stimulate your evolution.

You deserve to achieve your potential, whether in business or otherwise. Next time you feel like your work is done, remind yourself of Pareto Distribution and entertain the possibility that your work may have only begun.