If you had followed me from one partner meeting to the next over the past two weeks (which would have been a weird thing to do), you would have heard the same question more than a few times:
Where is the 20%?
The Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule, says that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. It is named for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), who found that 20% of Italians owned 80% of the land and reportedly saw the same pattern in his garden: 20% of pods produced 80% of peas. It pops up in the management literature every couple of decades. 2026 is apparently my year to be obsessed with it.
The split might be 70/30 or 90/10. Exact ratios are not the thing to get hung up on. The useful question is:
Which few things are producing most of the result?
In a school district of forty schools, I noticed that a small number of principals had developed many of the assistant principals who later became effective principals themselves. Those mentoring principals were doing something worth understanding and spreading.
One nonprofit partner found that a small number of enthusiastic donors had brokered most of its major donor relationships. The partner is now focused on thanking them, encouraging them to keep doing it, and figuring out what their board could learn from these “ambassadors.”
The same question can help locate problems.
I recently noticed that roughly 80% of the discipline issues at a particular middle school were logged between third period and the end of lunch. That insight focused the leadership team’s attention on what was different about those hours: more transitions, less structured time, gaps in hallway supervision, hunger, or simply too long without a break. The team is now testing changes during those hours.
So if something is going well, look for the 20%. Who or what is producing most of the result? What can you learn from it? What should you spread?
If you notice a problematic pattern, ask where it is concentrated. What small number of moments or conditions is producing most of it?
I’d love to hear what you find.
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