Pareto Principle

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes (the “vital few”). This applies to many things including sales (a few products generate the most revenue), World GDP (The richest 20% hold 80% of the wealth), and healthcare (20% of the patients use 80% of the resources).

It can also apply to an individual working as crew. 80% of the behaviours of a professional take 20% of the available mental capacity. SoPs, habits, and protocols make much of the work automatic, requiring little effort to maintain excellence. It is the remaining 20% of behaviours that is the trick. Much of the time this portion is ignored or lightly touched upon.

The thinking is that 80% is good enough and gets the job done - the effort required to capture the last 20% is not worth the cost - is accurate and sufficient in most cases. However it is the true professional that sees the long tail distribution of the small effects having large outcomes and the act of spending the 80% will pay off.

In Search of the Perfect Crew