The Pareto Principle
Once upon a time (though really not that long ago), MatchPace almost became “The Pareto Group.” We were so inspired by the Pareto Principle that we nearly named our company after it!
I was brainstorming names for the company with my husband, and he said “it’s like the Pareto Principle!”
If you are like me, and not my economically-minded husband, you might be asking “what is the Pareto Principle?”
I was not familiar with Vilfredo Pareto, the Italian economist who Joseph Juran named the Pareto Principle after.
But you may have heard of the “80/20 rule.”
Back in the late 1800s, Pareto observed that 80 percent of Italy’s land was owned by just 20 percent of the population; he then took the principle a step further, noting that about 20 percent of the peapods in his garden produced 80 percent of the peas.
The Pareto Principle applies to today’s workplace. Like many things in life, input and output are not evenly distributed. Have you ever felt you you get one or two major activities done each day, that have a big impact, but spend most of your day on rather un-impactful work? If so, you might have been living in the 80/20 rule - 20%of your effort earning you 80% of your impact (and 80% of your work, earning only 20% worth of impact… think about that for a second). Almost without fail, most people spend a lot of time on unnecessary activities.
Let’s take it a step further. Pareto Optimization tells us that the most desirable distribution of work would make it true that if you reallocated resources, no one would be better or worse off than another. All of your resources are allocated in the most efficient way. That’s what we strive to do at MatchPace: design your work environment so that each person is functioning at their optimal pace, with as few inefficiencies as possible, to maximize effectiveness (because what is the purpose of efficiency if it isn’t driving to the right outcome?).
What’s in it for you? You get to help your team be more efficient and effective, accomplishing more of the right things in fewer hours. You get the very best from your team, and they get to take control of their time.
Pareto Optimization: it’s a win-win!
Interested in optimizing your workday and systems to cut down on wasted hours, reduce inefficiencies, boost productivity and give your employees more time? Click here if you’re an organization looking for more info, or here if you’re interested in finding a job that matches your pace. You can also email me at elizabeth@matchpace.com. Let’s start a conversation today about maximizing productivity and satisfaction at work!
PS - Why aren’t we named “The Pareto Group?” Trademark issues. There are already a few other companies with similar-enough names (it is a good idea). It would have been too easy for someone to confuse us with one of them. MatchPace communicates what we want to do: help organizations run at the right pace, and find the right employees to run at that pace with them - helping everyone achieve their goals.