Vilfredo Pareto was a French-Italian sociologist, economist and philosopher born in 1848 in Paris. In 1906, as a lecturer in economics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, he first articulated what has become known as the “Pareto Principle” or the 80-20 rule when he observed that 20 percent of the population owned 80 percent of the property in Italy. It was immediately obvious that there must be some sort of underlying organic principle supporting this observation as the same 80-20 ratio seemed to apply to any number of situations.

In 1941, J.M. Juran discovered Pareto’s work and the “Pareto Chart” became part of the foundation of the quality and efficiency movements that have molded and shaped the economics and business models of post-war industrial society.

And your point is?…

9 times out of 10 (or perhaps it’s closer to 8 out of 10 to be more precise), we all go through an internal Pareto Analysis for virtually every decision we make. Simply stated,

“What is the most effective thing I can do in this situation with the greatest likelihood of producing the most favorable outcome?”

But ironically, in today’s information society where data, theories and “expert opinions” seem to know no bounds, it’s harder than ever to filter the truly critical factors out from the surrounding “noise level.” You need simple, direct, factual summaries and directions you can trust so you can get on with your busy life. Thus the popularity of “Idiot’s Guide to…” books. But you’re not an idiot– you just don’t want to (or have time to) sort through all the “fat and fur” to find the “meat” you’re looking for. The fact is,

…most of what you need to know can be summarized in 3-5 (max) simple steps or bullet points that will solve the vast majority of issues you face….

Not done talking about this yet.

SOON– The Pareto Proclamation in Practice

Tags: Business Processes, Pareto