The 80/20 Rule mainly expresses a kind of imbalance. Whether it is 70/30 or 90/10, it can all be classified as the kind of imbalance described by the 80/20 Rule. 20% of drinkers consume 80% of the alcohol, 20% of players contribute 80% of in-game spending, 20% of employees produce 80% of the results, and only 20% of the years in a person’s life can determine 80% of their fate.
We basically do not need 80% of PowerPoint’s features, while we frequently use 20% of them. Yet 80% of people cannot even use that 20% well, while the 20% who use them well also create 80% of their leaders’ PowerPoint presentations. Of course, these people also have an 80% probability of being promoted and entrusted with important responsibilities, becoming the 20% of outstanding employees. After becoming managers, they only need to spend 20% of their time each day assigning 80% of the work.
The 80/20 Rule can be seen everywhere. It also reveals three important points to us:
First, imbalance is the truth of the world. If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority; if everything is crucial, then nothing is crucial; if everyone is excellent, then excellence becomes mediocrity. Being a priority, being crucial, being excellent, and even being wealthy do not depend on the standards used to define them, but on the proportion in which they exist. Excellence is not about how strong your abilities are, but about being stronger than 80% of people. Wealth is not about how much money you specifically have, but about having more money than 80% of people. This is the truth of the world.
Second, having food to eat is the driving force of human progress, while imbalance is the vitality of human progress. Social imbalance is indeed caused by human nature. Like the bus effect: before getting on, you tell the people in front to squeeze in a bit; once you're on, you want those behind to wait for the next bus. You don't want the people above you to have more wealth, and you don't want the people below you to take a share of yours—this is exactly what creates the 80/20 structure. As long as you climb up bit by bit, you will spend less and less time to gain more and more wealth; the easier it gets, the richer you become. That is the vitality. Holding a heart of equality for all is right, and at the same time, accepting the motivation brought by imbalance is also right.
Third, take the two to get the eight—that is, in everything, as long as you grasp the key small part, you can obtain most of what you want, saving effort and being effective. This insight is actually already revealed by the alternative name of the 80/20 rule: you only need to grasp the key 2 to obtain the 8 you want. This is the most cost-effective code for striving.
Accepting imbalance is the truth of the world; understanding imbalance is the vitality of progress. Using imbalance and mastering the code of success is the greatest insight the 80/20 rule gives us.