Pareto Principle Explained

While 2 more P's here, they are not part of the Three P's that are greater than the Three R's of education. However, since I have written about the 20% and 80% concept a few times, I thought it prudent to take a step back and discuss this deeper.

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of our outcomes are from 20% of our actions. I see this as more than just effects from causes, but also in multiple walks of life. I'm guessing that in your system, 20% of your staff are on 80% of the committees. The same 20% of your staff make up 80% of the people participating in professional development. 20% of your parents can take up 80% of your time. 20% of your students make up 80% of the students in need of intervention. 20% of your students make up 80% of your discipline issues.

I have heard it described that 80% of a population in any system will do the right thing that vast majority of the time. 5% of your population will do the wrong thing the vast majority of the time. That remaining 15% can go either way, and determine where between 5 and 20% of your population are causing the majority of the work for your disciplinarians in the building. That number can make or break your ability to be a strong educational institution.

When we first change our To-Do list into a Priority List, and then start applying the Pareto Principle to our Priority List, we can narrow down to the few things we can do (the most important 20% of our list) that will make the biggest impact. That's where we need to start. The easy low-hanging fruit is where we typically start, but that usually is pruning a branch rather than building stronger roots.

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