The Power Of Preparation

THE 80-20 PRINCIPLE
For the past few weeks, I have been reading various articles on productivity, one of the standout themes that resonated from the articles was the 80-20 principle. This states that the 20 percent of what you do determines the quality of the remaining 80 percent of your life. Chad Halvorson says that 20 percent of your activities account for 80 percent of your success.
When it comes to everyday activities I believe that this principle applies; our preparation (20 percent) determines the success of our projects (80 percent). Many times we ignore the 20 percent and focus on the 80 percent which leads to our projects failing. A year ago, I was working on a class presentation, and my group was determined to have the best work. So we did interviews, prepared scripts, sorted out editing and everything seemed to be on track. The day of the presentation we all arrived on time and were good to go, or so I thought. Everyone had a role to play and we assumed that each person would be able to handle what was accorded to them, and had no plan B in the event that one member dropped the ball. As the presentation began, it wasn't long before it came to a halt, as the technology let us down, both the video and audio were not working at all. The person in charge of this did not verify that morning that the equipment was good to go. We clearly focused on the 80 percent and not the important 20 percent. You see in this presentation, the human element (20) was the crucial comment, the video, scripts, interviews, research and other materials were the 80 percent. Sadly, we focused on the latter and it hampered our project. In the same way we should  not mix up these two aspects. Remember the 20 percent may even be that detail that no one notices. It may include; smart financial choices now to ensure the possibility of future investment, a regular study schedule for long term academic success or even research on a project before undertaking it to determine whether you can handle it. So ask yourself, are you really working on your preparation (20 percent) or focusing all your energy on the possible outcome (80 percent)?