James’s Power Principle #1 – There Can Be Only One…
Some simple maths on Pareto’s 80/20 Guideline:
“80% of 80 is 64%. 20% of 20 is 4%. Reiterate. 80% of 64 is 51%. 20% of 4 is 0.8 (say 1%).
80/20 becomes 51/1.
According to Steve Ballmer (Microsoft 2002) “1 percent of bugs causes half of all errors”. Pretty close to 51/1?
Conditional on large enough numbers – this means that ONE of your customers causes half of your service problems. It means ONE of the action steps in front of you has the ability to produce 50% of total increased value (seriously).
Just ONE of the hundreds of things that makes you fat (or say gives you asthma) – contributes HALF your increased fatness (or breathing symptoms). ONE.
Exercise: Make a list of what makes you fatter every year. Right at the top put the ONE item you think is most damaging to you. (It probably is added sugar in your food – but if you have already removed sugar – it is the next one on the list.)
Hooper’s Rule that you can borrow: Put most attention on uncovering the #1 item for what ails or excites you. Then give greatest force to completing that item TO COMPLETION. Do FEWER things, to COMPLETION. Get the ONE main thing on your list done, then your check to see if your #2 is your new ONE thing. Repeat.
(Completion! In case you missed it. Like the great movie Highlander – you must cuts it’s head off to claim it’s power completely. Unlike the movie, completing is NOT like cutting of Sean Connery’s head – but it does require motion. But you might get the big dose of lightning (Dopamine in your brain) when you complete your task. )
The First Inverse RULE: If you constantly bury yourself in the bottom 96 items (if your list was 100) you have a “fear” opportunity. The bottom items will produce no real change, which our brains mistakenly believe is “safer”. You have heard of “comfort zone”.
Your bottom 96 are the barbed wire fence to your comfort zone – no growth. Your top 4 are usually a LITTLE out of your comfort zone – they will stimulate GROWTH.
You cannot program for both growth and safety at the same time. (Note: Programming for safety is a strategic error resulting stagnation and misery, not safety.)
The Second Inverse RULE: If you constantly begin items (from any part of your list – top or bottom) and do NOT complete them, you will achieve the same outcome as the First Inverse Rule.
Maths is manipulation of symbols in the attempt to uncover or apply principles. These numbers are imaginary, estimates, and approximations. But the principles uncovered are precise.
Pour a bucket of COURAGE on your head. Then another bucket. Then list and pick your most likely #1 (or any of your top 4 just to get momentum) and crush it. Motivation does not LEAD the action, it FOLLOWS the action.
James
