The Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule) is based on observations by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, sociologist, and engineer. First, he noticed that 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the plants. Intrigued, he expanded this to economics and found 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to 20% of the country’s population.
His principle has been expanded to apply to a wide variety of situations, and there are computer programs to create Pareto Charts for analysis and decision making.
Some of the everyday distributions are:
* Success: 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes
* Disease: 80% of COVID transmissions come from 20% of the cases
* Customer Service: 80% of complaints come from 20% of customers
* Management – 80% of the issues come from 20% of the employees
* IT – 80% of the system crashes are caused by 20% of the bugs
* Manufacturing: 80% of the product defects come from 20% of the problems in production methods
* Cleaning – 80% of the dirt / mess is in 20% of the house / office
* Insurance: 80% of the claims come from 20% of the insured
* Food Choices – 80% of the time we order from 20% of a restaurant menu
* Apparel Choices – 80% of the clothes we wear come from 20% of our closet
* Successful Relationships: 80% of the communication is positive: 20% is negative / critical / complaining
REFLECT:
Personally:
Do you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time?
When you eat out, do you go to the same restaurant 80% of the time?
At the restaurant, do you order the same things 80% of the time?
Professionally:
Do you criticize / correct 5 times more than you praise / affirm?
Studies of organizational cultures mirror these distributions.
* the least successful organizations have a communication pattern of 20% “praise” and 80% “criticism”
* the highly functional and successful organizations have a pattern of 80% positive feedback and 20% criticism
So a simple “magic wand” to changing a culture to be high-functioning and high-performing is to using the 80/20 rule in your communication patterns.
As a consultant, I developed a simple exercise for leaders to change their communication patterns. Here’s how it worked.
At our first group meeting, we discussed desired outcomes, problem areas and feedback patterns.
At the end of the session, I provided each manager with a coupon booklet (4.25” X 5.5” — an 8.5 sheet divided into 4 equal parts).
The booklet contained 10 coupons.
Eight coupons were pink –
for Positive Feedback –
They looked like this:
Positive Feedback
Date:
To:
From:
For:
Two coupons were blue –
For Redirection Feedback –
They looked like this:
Redirection Feedback
Date:
To:
From:
For:
We reviewed the guidelines for giving effective feedback in both categories. Then I asked the group to set a deadline for completing and distributing the coupons to their employees. Invariably, the groups would resist, and eventually agree to two weeks.
I scheduled a follow-up training session for two weeks out.
At that session, managers reported the results back to the group. Consistently, they said employees thanked them for the feedback and became more open to discuss problems and performance. The managers’ had heightened interest and were motivated to continue the practice.
I distributed another coupon book (#2), identical to the first one, and asked managers to set a new deadline for distributing them to employees. Usually, it was ten days.
I scheduled a follow-up training session for eleven days out for them to report back. More positive stories were shared and the managers began asking each other about techniques. Heightened interest transformed into enthusiasm.
I distributed another coupon book (#3), identical to the others. And I suggested a one day deadline. Managers usually resisted, and I had them discuss how to get it done. They hashed it out among themselves and pushed each other to do it. I scheduled a follow-up brown bag lunch two days later for them to report back.
At that session, I sat back and enjoyed my lunch while they enthusiastically discussed the great changes in their workplaces.
In closing, I presented each of them with a box of coupon books and suggested they continue the process with their staff. And I sat back while they discussed how that would work. In closing, I facilitated their forming follow-up support and accountability partners / teams to do it.
This simple exercise has always been an effortless culture changer. When I take a new leadership position, I use it – beginning with a few days of passing out coupons myself. Then I conduct the training with all the leads. Then they conduct the training for their staff members. Coupons show up everywhere after that.
I know we have established an open communication culture when I receive a Redirection Feedback coupon about my performance. I immediately respond with a Positive Feedback coupon, thanking the employee for trusting me enough to tell me the truth and for supporting me in being a better leader. Then I make the needed change – on my own or with input from the staff, depending on the nature of the Redirection.
Of course, if the group is not in one central location, this can be modified to email, text, or? An app? Make it work in your environment.
APPLY:
For one week, monitor (and quantify) your feedback patterns, specifically for Positive and Redirection feedback.
Then modify it to be in alignment with the Pareto Principle for high performing teams / organizations.
