How to accomplish twice the work in half the time and reduce your stress in the process

Pareto’s Garden,

Parkinson’s Law and the

Kobayashi Maru

Pareto’s Garden

Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) A controversial engineer - economist - sociologist whose work included the then little known law of income distribution, now known as the 80/20 principle.

Pareto’s Law of Distribution 80% of the wealth is produced and

possessed by only 20% of the population.

80/20 Outside of Economics Pareto also noticed, among other

things, that 80% of his garden peas were produce by only 20% of the pea pods he had planted.

Other Applications

80% of the Outputs come from 20% of the inputs. 80% of the consequences flow from 20%

of the causes 80% of the results come from 20% of the

time and effort 80% of Company profits come from 20%

of the products and customers 80% of Stock Market gains come from

20% of the investors and 20% of the portfolio

Ratio is often more severe It is not uncommon to see:

90/10 95/5 99/1

How can we use this to be more effective?

Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of your problems and unhappiness?

Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of your desired outcomes and happiness?

Which 20%, 10% or 5% of your customers are causing 80%, 90% or 95% of your grief? Ask yourself honestly: “Are they really worth it …… really?”

How badly would it affect your income if you got rid of them?

A large percentage of the time, a maximum of heartache can be eliminated with a minimum of income loss. If you CAN get rid of, fire, or reassign

a customer or project that has an inverted grief to income ratio …..

JUST DO IT!!

Still Other Applications

Advertising Affiliates Partners Personal Relationships

Parkinson’s Law

Have you ever heard someone say “I work better under a deadline?”

This is Parkinson’s Law in action

Parkinson’s Law States:

A task will swell in “perceived” importance in reverse proportion to the amount of time you have to complete it.

If something “must” be done by tomorrow, we will put off other items to see that the task is completed.

If it is not needed for two months, we hardly think of it for seven weeks.

How to be “Uber” effective: Combine Pareto’s Distribution with Parkinson’s Law Limit tasks to the important to

shorten work time (80/20) Shorten work time to limit tasks to

the important (Parkinson’s Law)

Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income and then schedule them with very short and clear deadlines

The Kobayashi Maru

This was a test given by Star Fleet to command candidates. It thrust the student into a no-win situation to see how they would respond.

There was no right or wrong choice, but the decision made by the student, which undesirable outcome they chose, revealed a great deal about the student’s makeup

Why is this relevant?

James Tiberius Kirk, the venerable captain of the Starship Enterprise 1701-A, didn’t like knowing that he was going to be put into a lose-lose situation.

He believed that there were always alternatives, other ways to approach the problem, other choices besides what you are “given.”

WDKD?

He secretly gained access to the simulation computer before his test and reprogrammed the Kobayashi Maru so that it was no longer a no win scenario.

He changed the rules of the game to work for his benefit.

What’s our lesson?

What is it we believe about how we should spend our days and how many hours we should put in because those are the rules we’ve been given?

Are we doing work that a clerk, an assistant, or Virtual Assistant could be doing?

Are we “inventing” tasks so that we can trick ourselves into thinking that we are being productive?

Change the rules!!

We need not accept someone else’s description of what it means to be productive.

Use the 80/20 Principle to determine what you should be doing, with whom, and when.

Overlay Parkinson’s Law to optimize how to do it in the most effective manner and in the shortest possible time.

80/20 (ON STEROIDS) Gary Keller. The ONE Thing

I want you to go small by identifying the 20 percent, and then I want you to go even smaller by finding the vital few of the vital few.

Keep going. You can actually take 20 percent of the 20 percent of the 20 percent and continue until you get to the single most important thing!

A To Do List

The One Thing

BIG IDEAS

Go small. Don’t focus on being busy; focus on being productive. Allow what matters most to drive your day.

Go extreme. Once you’ve figured out what actually matters, keep asking what matters most until there is only one thing left. That core activity goes at the top of your success list.

Say no. Whether you say “later” or “never,” the point is to say “not now” to anything else you could do until your most important work is done. (60/60/30)

Don’t get trapped in the “check off” game. If we believe things don’t matter equally, we must act accordingly. We can’t fall prey to the notion that everything has to be done, that checking things off our list is what success is all about. We can’t be trapped in a game of “check off” that never produces a winner. The truth is that things don’t matter equally and success is found in doing what matters most.