If you’re like me, you probably want to know that you’re always working on the things that will do the most to your life’s (or your employer’s) goals. And, you’re probably familiar with what I’ll call “The 80/20 Principle” as discovered by Vilfredo Pareto. But there are times when the 80/20 principle doesn’t apply.

In fact, there’s at least one area of your where trying to apply the 80/20 principle could already be costing you success. Or, even if you’re successful now, it could cost you everything you’ve worked so hard for. But before we get to that, let’s take a quick look at the 80/20 principle.

The 80/20 Principle

80% of the wealth is held by 20% of the people.
80% of the outcomes are from 20% of the inputs.
80% of your problems are from 20% of the causes.

The 80/20 principle is about uneven distribution, uneven effort, and scarcity and history seems to tell us it applies in areas of resource, influence, effectiveness, or contribution (to name a few). In fact, across nearly any population or community, you’ll likely find that 80% of the outcomes come from to 20% of the inputs.

But, like I said, there are times when you can’t use the 80/20 principle and to get you there and one of those is the area of trust.

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