Surface Ripples

What’s It Worth?

Many will have heard of the “80/20 Rule”.

This states that 20% of something does, yields or influences 80% of something else.  The original theory was propounded by Italian Vilfredo Pareto at the University of Lausanne in 1896 who postulated that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This rule has now been incorporated into any number of concepts and guidelines.  One of my favourites is that 20% of my efforts achieve 80% of my results.  Another is that you will get it 80% right first time but risk spending disproportionate additional time in attempting to achieve that final 20% and perfection.

I’ve actually encountered a number of business owners and others who are exactly like that. To be honest, I admire that tenacity in looking for that degree of perfection and going beyond that threshold which, for most of us, is “good enough”.

The problem for these people is that they spend far too much time “sweating the small stuff”.  In certain instances this is justified.  For example: ensuring that every part of a jet engine will function as it is meant to at altitude.  “There are,” as the Head of Aeronautical Engineering at one UK university has put it “no lay-bys at 35,000 feet”.  In such cases, if that jet engine is the difference between life and death, it had better function perfectly!  

Jetliners however are multi-engined.  They can suffer the loss of one engine and make an emergency landing on the other.  Extreme cases like the one above apart, we have to decide in our own minds when something’s got to be perfect and when “good enough” will do.  Take another example: software releases these days are usually 80% or more “good enough”.  The remaining 20% is achieved over the following weeks or months as the “bugs” are identified and resolved by the software programmer.  In most cases the “bug” shouldn’t be a fatal coding flaw but rather an omission or a bug that couldn’t have been identified except in the crucible of real-life use.  The latter is something many of us find very difficult to emulate to any degree of thoroughness.

My personal view is that, in most cases, “good enough” will do.  The additional 20% rarely has to be worth it to spend time that could otherwise be dedicated to launching new projects, motivating one’s team or spending quality time with one’s family or improving oneself. 

Of course, the more experienced we become at delivering a product or service, the more “perfect” we should be able to make it!

Every individual needs to decide for themselves based on their circumstances when “good enough” really is “good enough”.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website  provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Career, Financial, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork

posted by William Martin @ 09:21