On the 80/20 rule
Nov. 17th, 2025 04:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
posicScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypersonal/posts/pfbid02NvDVqrNL11tXTBRZcjq5yNZJVTfqa7Wt2B8j1PiPZRYUxh6im89Gv5duZpCNS5Atl :
The 80/20 rule is real.
20% of your activities create 80% of your results. Find the 20%. Double down on it. Eliminate the 80%. You don't need to do more. You need to do less of the wrong things and more of the right ones.
***
This must be the standard mistake about the 80/20 rule, I presume.
No, it does not work this way. 80% of the proof of a theorem is not a proof. 80% of a good research paper is not a good research paper. 80% of understanding of a subject is not an understanding of the subject, etc.
Some activities do need to be eliminated, but not because of the 80/20 rule. The activities that need to be eliminated are generally those that do more harm than good. If this is the case, then one needs to eliminate all 100% and not just 80%.
The 80/20 rule is real.
20% of your activities create 80% of your results. Find the 20%. Double down on it. Eliminate the 80%. You don't need to do more. You need to do less of the wrong things and more of the right ones.
***
This must be the standard mistake about the 80/20 rule, I presume.
No, it does not work this way. 80% of the proof of a theorem is not a proof. 80% of a good research paper is not a good research paper. 80% of understanding of a subject is not an understanding of the subject, etc.
Some activities do need to be eliminated, but not because of the 80/20 rule. The activities that need to be eliminated are generally those that do more harm than good. If this is the case, then one needs to eliminate all 100% and not just 80%.
