Attitude: The 80/20 Perspective

Yours truly, alongside other reputation managers from the Military and Para-military, were in attendance. Dr Ogudoro, a proper Igbo man whose name, for some, was mistaken for a Yoruba man, reminded me of some great teachers who helped in shaping my destiny. Among these were Prof Ade Adefuye, Nigeria Ambassador to the United States of […]

Yours truly, alongside other reputation managers from the Military and Para-military, were in attendance. Dr Ogudoro, a proper Igbo man whose name, for some, was mistaken for a Yoruba man, reminded me of some great teachers who helped in shaping my destiny. Among these were Prof Ade Adefuye, Nigeria Ambassador to the United States of America, Prof Akborobaro of the University of Lagos, Mr Banye of CMS Grammar school. These great teachers were to the academia, what Rev George Adegboye, the General Overseer of Rhema Chapel International Churches, is to Christendom – a working concordance. While this piece is not about Dr Ogudoro or any of these great teachers of mine who, no doubt, deserve more accolades than I can ever weave together, I must confess that for one week, I was held spellbound not just by his wealth of knowledge but by the ex-tempore style of teaching couched with examples of the Nigerian environment. It was in the course of the teachings that the great teacher introduced us to books, including the title that had influenced today’s write-up – The 80/20 principle – The secret to achieving more with less by Richard Koch. What really is this Principle? The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or efforts usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards. Taken literally, this means that, for example, 80 percent of what you achieve in your job comes from 20 percent of the time spent. Thus for all practical purposes, four-fifths of the efforts – a dominant part of it – is largely irrelevant. This is contrary to what people normally expect.
So the 80/20 Principle states that there is an in-built imbalance between causes and results, inputs and outputs, and efforts and rewards. A good benchmark for this imbalance is provided by the 80/20 relationship: a typical pattern will show that 80 percent of outputs results from 20 percent of inputs; that 80 percent of consequences flow from 20 percent of causes; or that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of efforts.
In business, many examples of the 80/20 Principle have been validated. Twenty percent of products usually account for about 80 percent of dollar sales value; so do 20 percent of customers. Twenty percent of products or customers usually also account for about 80 percent of an organization’s profits.
In the society, 20 percent of criminals account for 80 percent of the value of all crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of accidents. Twenty percent of those who marry comprise 80 percent of the divorce statistics (those who consistently re-marry and re-divorce distort the statistics and give a lopsidedly pessimistic impression of the extent of marital fidelity). Twenty percent of children attain 80 percent of educational qualifications available.
In the home, 20 percent of your carpets are likely to get 80 percent of the wear. Twenty percent of your clothes will be worn 80 percent of the time. And if you have an intruder alarm, 80 percent of the false alarms will be set off by 20 percent of the possible causes.
The internal combustion engine is a great tribute to the 80/20 Principle. Eighty percent of the energy is wasted in combustion and only 20 percent gets to the wheels; this 20 percent of the input generates 100 percent of the output! When I read the book, I was startled by his saying that, in society, 2 percent of motorists cause 80 percent of accidents. This got me thinking and prompted me to take a second critical look at the general driving habits of Nigerian motorists. Without sounding like a researcher, my focus was first on the route to my estate in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory where to my folly, I swallowed my earlier position contained in my piece last year titled, ATTITUDE, THE CHANGE WE NEED  TO REDUCE ROAD CRASHES. Before I share with you my shocking finding which has redefined my stand, next week, I will share some excerpts from that piece which was published shortly after the ill-fated Dana Airline crash which occurred last year, leaving wailings and sorrows behind.