PARETO PRIORITIZATION (the idea that you should focus on the 20% that brings the 80% of value) is not only about using well your limited time and energy.
It’s about managing uncertainty: acting on what will be net positive even if it costs 2x and works 0.5x.
(thread, 1/N)
It’s about managing uncertainty: acting on what will be net positive even if it costs 2x and works 0.5x.
(thread, 1/N)
2/ In the real world, you can only estimate the costs and benefits of a task; you do not know their true values.
If you don’t know better, you can assume the uncertainty to be the same across options.
In this case, acting on the one action which has the best tradeoff is safety
If you don’t know better, you can assume the uncertainty to be the same across options.
In this case, acting on the one action which has the best tradeoff is safety
3/ This is especially true as you consider that actions might have unintended negative consequences.
For example, Marshall Goldsmith has the rule of “don’t give advice that doesn’t add at least 20% value” as each advice has the side effect of removing motivation.
For example, Marshall Goldsmith has the rule of “don’t give advice that doesn’t add at least 20% value” as each advice has the side effect of removing motivation.
4/ If, say, every time you give advice you add some effectiveness but always remove 20% motivation, it makes sense giving advice only when you expect the effectiveness of the advice to be >20%.
5/ Pareto prioritization - act on the 20% that brings 80% of the value - is a clever way to manage uncertainty and negative consequences disguised as productivity.
6/ For example, *for some conditions*, a doctor following the rule “only cure the patients with the worst symptoms” isn’t only prioritizing scarce healthcare resources.
He’s also avoiding curing those patients in which the cure might introduce worse problems that it removes.
He’s also avoiding curing those patients in which the cure might introduce worse problems that it removes.
7/ Pareto prioritization is also a clever way to maintain optionality. If you only act on the 20% that brings 80% of the value, you’ll have extra time to catch new opportunities.
8/ As an organization grows, it usually loses both in efficiency and in its capacity of managing uncertainty.
This thread explains one of the two reasons (the latter being that “harm as a signal of need for adaptation” gets lost as an organization gets opaque).
This thread explains one of the two reasons (the latter being that “harm as a signal of need for adaptation” gets lost as an organization gets opaque).
9/ Another good example of the principles described above.
All "lockdown rules" have side-effects, and there is uncertainty regarding both their costs and their benefits, so a "Pareto prioritization" would maximize effectiveness and minimize side-effect
All "lockdown rules" have side-effects, and there is uncertainty regarding both their costs and their benefits, so a "Pareto prioritization" would maximize effectiveness and minimize side-effect
