By: Brian Gilleece
Have y'all ever heard about the 80/20 rule? I was thinking about why you see so many of the same faces at work on film and tv, and what that could connect to from an economic perspective. Found it!
The 80/20 RULE = 20% of the people do 80% of the work and 80% of the people don't do shit. Well..... More or less. The 20% of people who work, do better work, and are more productive than those who don't. Makes a lot of sense, but why?
WHY 20% DO THE MOST: If someone in your business were twice or four times as useful as another employee, it would clearly be worth paying a large premium for their services, right?
Yet the 80/20 principle suggests that the best twenty percent of any peer group is likely to be at least sixteen times as valuable as the other eighty percent.
Sixteen times?! Dammmmm.
Imagine a group of 100 people produce 100 ham sandwiches. If the most productive people in the group produce 80 percent of the value, that is, 80 sandwiches, then one of those 20 people will produce, on average, 4 units (80 divided by 20 is 4).
And if the 80 percent of less productive people produce a total of 20 sandwiches, each one of them will produce just 0.25 of a unit – 20 divided by 80 is ¼. So, 16 times.
RIGHT THO? Does this not kinda explain the pay disparity between stars and co stars? Certain movie stars and others? If value is seen in terms productivity, and productivity is typically seen in terms of dollars, then man, that explains why The Rock gets $25 million a movie plus backend, cus well Jumanji did $950 million. And why I have on good information, Shia Labeouf got $80,000 for his last movie. Cus, well, it grossed $3.5 million world wide and cost over $30 million to make. Ouch.
LIFE ISN'T FAIR: Truth. It aint. BUT the good news is that the 80/20 rule also applies to success! 80% of the people will only have 20% percent of the success, and the 20%-ers will have 80% of the success.
Robert Downey Jr had and awesome quote about Chris Hemsworth when he was being fat Thor and he attributed it to himself as well in different way. He said, "When you think you're at 70%, bring it back because you're probably at 105%." These incredibly successful people are so driven they can't feel a top, there is no top, and there is no too far, and they often go over board. But it's what makes them so productive and, i.e. VALUABLE and 20% players, not JAG's.
WRAP: If you feel like you're doing your 100% best work, keep pushing, get to 105%, 110%, 120%, then pull it back. Be the 20%. If you don't feel like you're someone who is in the 20% and maybe a bit to laid back, or just thinking there is going to be more time etc... etc... etc..., well, manufacture some 20%-ness. Its really the only way anything in anything works, and in no business more than Hollywood.
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