How a little change can make a huge difference?

As discussed at the very beginning of this article series about the value of organization and the impact of the systematic attribute on the performance of individuals, there are many facets to be aware of. Today, we are looking at three more of them:

• The Pareto Principle
• An Organizational Myth
• Self-motivation

As always, I conducted some research into these terms to get a better understanding. Here is what I found about the Pareto Principle:

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., “80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.”

It is worthy of note that some applications of the Pareto principle are appeals to a pseudo-scientific “law of nature” to bolster non-quantifiable or non-verifiable assertions that are “painted with a broad brush”. The fact that hedges such as the 90/10, 70/30, and 95/5 “rules” exist is sufficient evidence of the non-exactness of the Pareto principle. On the other hand, there is adequate evidence that “clumping” of factors does occur in most phenomena.

The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to Pareto efficiency, which was also introduced by the same economist, Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto developed both concepts in the context of the distribution of income and wealth among the population.

The observation was in connection with income and wealth. Pareto noticed that 80% of Italy’s wealth was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.

It also applies to a variety of more mundane matters: one might guess approximately that we wear our 20% most favored clothes about 80% of the time, perhaps we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances, etc.

The Pareto principle has many applications in quality control. It is the basis for the Pareto chart, one of the key tools used in total quality control and six sigma. The Pareto principle serves as a baseline for ABC-analysis and XYZ-analysis, widely used in logistics and procurement for the purpose of optimizing stock of goods, as well as costs of keeping and replenishing that stock. In computer science the Pareto principle can be applied to optimization phrases.

In the realm of systematic attributes and the value of organization, a small, maybe 20% increase in organizational measures, can lead to very significant benefits of efficiency. It is also worth noting that the principle, even though the numbers might change, often applies in coaching, where a relatively small amount of time communicating with an individual and helping to establish exercises with the goal to change habits can cause life changing results, not just for a small time period, but permanently. I have a number of coaching clients, especially regarding the systematic attribute, who can attest to this phenomenon.

In summary, Pareto is not something you can do much about, but rather something to be aware of. As I have written many times, awareness is often 50% of the solution. Being aware that a small change can make a big difference can provide the motivation to take massive action. That’s what’s often missing. We know what we like or want, and we have an idea what it takes to achieve it, but the motivation to take action is missing. Being aware of the Pareto principle can be the first step to achieving your goals.

While researching many potential aspects influencing the systematic attribute and the value of being organized, I came across an interesting piece of advice created by Maria Garcia:

THE INFAMOUS ORGANIZATIONAL MYTH  (Maria Garcia)

Myth: To be organized means to be neat or tidy.

Yes, we will admit that you can be neat and organized at the same time. But, there is also a huge percentage of neat people who are extremely disorganized.

In fact, and this one’s probably going to throw you for a loop — you can be the total opposite of neat (you can be sloppy) and still be organized!

So, what does it mean to be organized?

Truth: To be organized means:

1) You get everything done when it’s due.

2) You find everything you need when you need it.

It’s really that simple.

Keep these two phrases in mind, and you’re well on your way to optimum organization.

I agree with Maria, although I believe this really only applies to people who are already organized in the filing and planning way discussed at the beginning of this series. For people with the clustered approach, they might achieve the goals, but they might need to expand a he amount of time and energy and hurt themselves in the long term through anxiety, increased blood pressure and other indications of stress. As the old saying goes: “The results alone don’t always justify the methods.”

Finally today, I like to address the motivation to change. If you score relatively low on the systematic attribute but have a hard time to change and take massive action, what can you actually do?

Let’s suppose you value your time at $100 an hour. Then imagine throwing $100 down the drain every hour. Ouch! That’s exactly what you’re doing if you’re wasting your precious time. If you knew that you were losing $100 an hour, would you continue to let your time dwindle away on unimportant activity? Probably not.

Placing a dollar value on your time will help you determine what you are willing — or not willing — to spend your time on. Don’t ever sell yourself short. Establish how much your time is worth and use that value to make decisions on how to spend it.

The same approach should also answer the question: What should I really do with my time. Nobody is good at everything. If you find that there are things you are not good at or motivated to do, you will probably take longer than someone who loves this kind of work. In addition, you will possibly get frustrated. For individuals with a low score on the systematic attribute I have found that filling out forms and generally working on administrative things is a dreaded. Instead of doing it anyway, and keeping the value of time in mind, you should consider outsourcing.

If you value your time as being $100 per hour, you can easily find someone working for $10 and hour or maybe a little more. If that someone loves administrative work, you actually help him or her while you love the fact that you can do what you are really good at – and earn the value of your time. That’s what I can a win-win proposition.

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC