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    The Upside of The 80/20 Rule: If You Practice Inversion

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    Einah Einah
    The document discusses the potential downside of strictly applying the 80/20 rule to decisions. While the 80/20 rule can help focus on the most important areas that provide the greatest returns, it may not surface new or non-traditional paths that could be highly impactful. This is illustrated through the example of Audrey Hepburn in 1967 - a strict 80/20 analysis would have recommended continuing her successful career in romantic comedies. However, she wanted to pursue philanthropic work through UNICEF instead, which did not appear as the most effective option based on past data but allowed her to have a large positive impact in a new way.

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    The Upside of The 80/20 Rule: If You Practice Inversion

    Uploaded by

    Einah Einah
    21 views2 pages
    The document discusses the potential downside of strictly applying the 80/20 rule to decisions. While the 80/20 rule can help focus on the most important areas that provide the greatest returns, it may not surface new or non-traditional paths that could be highly impactful. This is illustrated through the example of Audrey Hepburn in 1967 - a strict 80/20 analysis would have recommended continuing her successful career in romantic comedies. However, she wanted to pursue philanthropic work through UNICEF instead, which did not appear as the most effective option based on past data but allowed her to have a large positive impact in a new way.

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    The document discusses the potential downside of strictly applying the 80/20 rule to decisions. While the 80/20 rule can help focus on the most important areas that provide the greatest returns, it may not surface new or non-traditional paths that could be highly impactful. This is illustrated through the example of Audrey Hepburn in 1967 - a strict 80/20 analysis would have recommended continuing her successful career in romantic comedies. However, she wanted to pursue philanthropic work through UNICEF instead, which did not appear as the most effective option based on past data but allowed her to have a large positive impact in a new way.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    21 views2 pages

    The Upside of The 80/20 Rule: If You Practice Inversion

    Uploaded by

    Einah Einah
    The document discusses the potential downside of strictly applying the 80/20 rule to decisions. While the 80/20 rule can help focus on the most important areas that provide the greatest returns, it may not surface new or non-traditional paths that could be highly impactful. This is illustrated through the example of Audrey Hepburn in 1967 - a strict 80/20 analysis would have recommended continuing her successful career in romantic comedies. However, she wanted to pursue philanthropic work through UNICEF instead, which did not appear as the most effective option based on past data but allowed her to have a large positive impact in a new way.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    The Upside of the 80/20 Rule

    When applied to your life and work, the 80/20 Rule can help you separate “the vital few from the
    trivial many.”
    For example, business owners may discover the majority of revenue comes from a handful of
    important clients. The 80/20 Rule would recommend that the most effective course of action
    would be to focus exclusively on serving these clients (and on finding others like them) and
    either stop serving others or let the majority of customers gradually fade away because they
    account for a small portion of the bottom line.
    This same strategy can be useful if you practice inversion and look at the sources of your
    problems. You may find that the majority of your complaints come from a handful of problem
    clients. The 80/20 Rule would suggest that you can clear out your backlog of customer service
    requests by firing these clients.
    The 80/20 Rule is like a form of judo for life and work. By finding precisely the right area to
    apply pressure, you can get more results with less effort. It’s a great strategy, and I have used it
    many times.
    But there is a downside to this approach, as well, and it is often overlooked. To understand this
    pitfall, we return to Audrey Hepburn.
    The Downside of the 80/20 Rule
    Imagine it is 1967. Audrey Hepburn is in the prime of her career and trying to decide how to
    spend her time.
    If she uses the 80/20 Rule as part of her decision-making process, she will discover a clear
    answer: do more romantic comedies.
    Many of Hepburn’s best films were romantic comedies like Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Breakfast
    at Tiffany’s, and Charade. She starred in these four films between 1953 and 1963; by 1967, she
    was due for another one. They attracted large audiences, earned her awards, and were an obvious
    path to greater fame and fortune. Romantic comedies were effective for Audrey Hepburn.
    In fact, even if we take into account her desire to help children through UNICEF, an 80/20
    analysis might have revealed that starring in more romantic comedies was still the best option
    because she could have maximized her earning power and donated the additional earnings to
    UNICEF.
    Of course, that’s all well and good if she wanted to continue acting. But she didn’t want to be an
    actress. She wanted to serve. And no reasonable analysis of the highest and best use of her time
    in 1967 would have suggested that volunteering for UNICEF was the most effective use of her
    time.
    This is the downside of the 80/20 Rule: A new path will never look like the most effective option
    in the beginning.

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