The Pareto Principle or 80/20

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Origins

The Pareto Principle, often called the 80/20 Rule, was introduced by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1896 after observing that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by just 20% of the population. He later noticed the same pattern appearing in other areas of life and work, leading to the idea that roughly 80% of outcomes are driven by 20% of causes. This principle has since become a cornerstone in business, productivity, and strategy. Twennie is named after the Pareto Principle, so it has special meaning for us.

The Power to Prioritize and Focus

In business, the Pareto Principle helps teams focus on what matters most. Often, 80% of profits come from 20% of clients, or 80% of sales from 20% of products. Understanding this allows organizations to direct energy toward high-impact priorities rather than spreading resources too thin. At Twennie, we embrace this mindset in everything we do—helping professionals and teams identify the vital few actions that drive the greatest results.

80/20 and the Individual

This principle doesn’t just apply to organizations—it applies to individuals too. Many people find that a small percentage of their tasks or relationships account for most of their satisfaction, success, or even stress. Twennie helps working professionals apply this insight to their own growth, focusing on the 20% of actions that build skills, foster collaboration, and make a meaningful difference. It’s a smarter way to learn, lead, and thrive at work.

suggested KPIs for this topic

These KPIs help you apply the Pareto Principle (80/20) in your organization and as an individual — identifying the “vital few” clients, projects, tasks, and habits that drive most of your results.

80/20 in clients, projects & revenue (org-level focus)

  • Identify which 20% of clients generate ~80% of revenue, profit, or strategic value.
  • Identify which 20% of projects cause ~80% of write-offs, stress, or reputational risk.
  • Prioritize relationship-building, service quality, and innovation for your highest-value clients.
  • Develop a clear strategy for low-value or high-drain work (improve, reprice, or decline).
  • Review 80/20 patterns at least annually to inform BD, staffing, and investment decisions.

80/20 in processes, problems & quality (operational focus)

  • Identify the 20% of process steps that create 80% of errors, rework, or delay.
  • Target those steps for redesign, automation, training, or clearer standards.
  • Track whether a small number of root causes drive most recurring issues — and address them first.
  • Use 80/20 analysis in proposals, project management, and QA/QC to focus improvement efforts.
  • Measure improvements in quality, schedule reliability, and team workload as bottlenecks are removed.

80/20 for individuals: time, energy & growth (personal focus)

  • Help team members identify the 20% of tasks that create 80% of their impact or results.
  • Do the same for stress: which 20% of tasks, habits, or relationships create 80% of their anxiety?
  • Encourage people to protect time for their high-impact work — and reduce or delegate low-value busywork.
  • Use Twennie units to focus learning on the 20% of skills that make most of the difference in their role.
  • Review individual 80/20 reflections in coaching or performance conversations at least twice a year.

80/20 in learning, change & strategic initiatives (twennie focus)

  • Choose a “vital few” Twennie topics for your team each quarter instead of scattering learning everywhere.
  • Assign only those units and prompt sets that directly support your top strategic priorities.
  • Limit major change initiatives to the 20% that will move the needle most on your five team KPIs.
  • Use Twennie’s report center to track which units produce the most noticeable behavior or performance shifts.
  • Refine your learning portfolio annually so your people spend their limited time on the most transformative work.

Choose a KPI from each category to make 80/20 more than a theory — turn it into a daily practice that focuses your clients, projects, processes, time, and learning on what truly matters most.

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