Dear Reader,
Amongst the books I highly recommend, ‘The 80/20 Principle‘ is an essential text to read, because, in agreement with the author, I argue that this Principle ‘should be used by every intelligent person in daily life … (p. 3).’
WHAT IS THE 80/20 PRINCIPLE?
The ‘… 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or efforts usually lead to a majority of results, outputs or rewards (p. 4).’ For example, in western society it may be found that 20 percent of professional workers (e.g. Investment Bankers) receive, annually, 80 percent of society’s wealth (e.g. Bankers were paid over 7 billion in 2009), or that, within your closet, you wear only 20 percent of your clothes, 80 percent of the time. Intriguingly and counter to our intuition, the principle reveals that there is usually an inbuilt imbalance between:
- Causes / Results
- Inputs / Outputs
- Effort / Reward
Even though the actual differences may be 65/35, 70/30, 75/25, 80/20, 95/5, 99.9/0.1 or any other set of number.
Significantly, to demonstrate the practical importance of the 80/20 Principle, this review will focus on how the author explores its application to our use of time.
THE 80/20 PRINCIPLE & TIME REVOLUTION
From the outset, the author argues that if we apply the 80/20 Principle to our use of time, it may be the fastest way that we can make a giant leap in both happiness and effectiveness, because it suggest the following:
- 80 percent of achievement is attained in 20 percent of the time taken [to achieve it]; conversely, 80 percent of time spent leads to only 20 percent of output value.
- 80 percent of happiness is experienced in 20 percent of life; and 80 percent of time contributes only 20 percent of happiness (p. 159).
Importantly, in the majority of the cases that the author has tested, he found the above hypotheses to be true, leading him to conclude that:
- Most of what we do is of low value.
- Some small fragments of our time are much more valuable than all the rest.
- If we can do anything about our use of time, we should do something radical; there is no point tinkering around the edges or making our use of time a little more efficient.
- If we make good use of only 20 percent of our time, we will find that there is no shortage of it (p. 160)!
In light of these conclusions, the author reminds us that his application of 80/20 Principle (to our use of time) is based on hypotheses that are not self-evident truths, or the result of exhaustive research; therefore, it is necessary for us to test them against our own personal experience.
In support, whilst practising law many years ago, I found that a major imbalance existed in terms of the amount of effort I used in my job, and the type of reward I received. Confirming the 80/20 Principle, I discovered that I was spending the majority of my time carrying out paper work, and only a minority of the time being intellectually challenged. Moreover, during this period, I started to realise that I was at my happiest (in life) whilst reading books, because they enabled me to be learning new things using the least amounts of time. Reacting to my observations, I decided to work part-time because it allowed me to increase the number of days I had available to read, and to pursue a legal career in a way that enabled me to reduce the time I would spend on paper work. Consequently and in confirmation of the author’s assertion, over 80 percent of the time I have continued to experience (for many years) a high level of personal happiness and effectiveness.
Accordingly, the author warns us that we should all be worried about the majority of our time being spent in low qualities ways. Thus, he advises us to not see time as a sequence running from left to rights (as the culture of business has imposed on us), but instead, to take a more eastern view of time as a synchronizing and cyclical device, which keeps coming round and round. Therefore, in order to assist further, the author goes on to provide step-by-step practical instructions and guidance, on how we can utilise the 80/20 Principle to completely change our approach to time.
CONCLUSION
Based on my personal experience (above), I argue that, for most people, the 80/20 Principle is one of the fastest ways to, drastically, improve happiness and effectiveness, as it can enable us to start working towards achieving more by using less time and less effort.
In support, when the author was a student at Oxford, his tutor told him not to go to lectures because “books can be read far faster …. But never read a book from cover to cover, except for pleasure…. Read the conclusion, then the introduction, then the conclusion again, then dip lightly into any interesting bits (p. 25).” In affect, his tutor was saying that 80 percent of the value of the book could be found in 20 percent or fewer of its pages, furthermore, that it could all be understood and consume in 20 percent of the time that it would take others to read it. Consequently, we are told that this type of study technique, among many others, enabled the author to study very efficiently so that without working hard, he ended up achieving a First Class degree.
In summary, as stressed throughout this review, the application of the 80/20 Principle can make a huge difference if applied to the personal lives of individuals. Moreover, throughout this book, the author also explores how its application can make:
- Each profit seeking corporation become much more profitable
- Each non-profit organisation deliver much more useful output
- Every government ensure that its citizens benefit much more from its existence
As a result, because of the wide-ranging significance of 80/20 Principle, in my opinion, it should be used by most, if not all, intelligent people on a daily basis in their personal and professional lives. Therefore, if currently you are not using the principle, I strongly recommend that you read this book and take the opportunity to, drastically, improve your happiness and effectiveness.
Should you have any comments, queries, or wish to discuss any aspect of this review, please feel free to contact me.
In the meantime … “Keep it moving!”
Truly yours,
Tom