We've all heard of the 80/20 Rule, also known as the Parento Principle. Dr. Joseph Juran, the total quality management guru, developed the Pareto Principle after studying the work of Wilfredo Pareto, the Italian nineteenth century economist who observed that in most countries eighty percent of the wealth was controlled by twenty percent of the people. The Pareto Principle states that a small percentage of your efforts (typically around 20 percent) will create a large majority of your results (usually around 80 percent).

Today, the rule appears everywhere. Sales people will tell you that eighty percent of the sales are made by twenty percent of the sales force. Artists say that eighty percent of their productivity comes from short bursts of intense inspiration which happen about twenty percent of the time. Managers point out that eighty percent of the work is done by twenty percent of the employees.


Natural Swing by rgusick at flickr.com

In golf, it has been said that twenty percent of the game is physical and eighty percent is mental; twenty percent of players are avid golfers, and they play eighty percent of the rounds; twenty percent of golfers break 100 on a regular basis, while eighty percent do not; the average golfer spends about twenty percent of his time at address looking at the target, and eighty percent of that time staring at the ball (pros do the opposite); and that golfers spend twenty percent of their practice time on the putting green and eighty percent of that time on the driving range.

It's no surprise then that eighty percent of golfers don't break 100 on a regular basis if their efforts to improve are focused on twenty percent of the game.

Using the Parento Principle, it follows that the golfer should instead spent less time working on his swing and more time on those activities that improve scoring.

There is no prize for the prettiest swing. We've all seen golfers with some very unique swings, score well. Just look to the Champions Tour. I learned this for myself when I played a round last year with an 80 year old golfer with a short little swing that hit the ball about 180 yards off the tee - into every fairway. He outscored me that round with an incredible attitude and short game.

The artful golfer learns to appreciate his unique and natural swing, and uses his limited practice time working on the parts of the game that make the most difference in scoring - the mental and short game.

I've also found that the Parento Principle can be applied to the overall score I shoot for a round. I usually score well on eighty perfect of the holes (14-15 holes) and loose my round on the other twenty percent (3-4 holes), usually towards the end of the round.

Many years ago, I failed to get selected for a job managing a software team that develops a very popular financial program. I shared during the interview that my greatest strength lies is getting new projects off the ground, building teams, and doing the initial product research, specification, architecture and design - the first eighty percent of the project. And although I had prior success in seeing projects through to the end, I found the last twenty percent of the project to be less rewarding. I didn't enjoy the grind involved towards the end of projects. The company selected someone else, perhaps someone less frank.

Interestingly, I seem to carry this personality trait over to golf. I'm usually a good starter. I find myself shooting good rounds through the first eighty percent of the round, but seem to fail in the last twenty percent, when the need to grind it out is most important.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to play with three employees at my local course who are all good golfers and who play from the back tees. I'd played the back tees only two other times, never breaking 80, but still got off to my usual good start. I only had one bad hole through 15, and tallied 4 birdies. I missed a 2-footer on 16, putting me at a respectable 4-over going into 17. I can remember about a dozen rounds over the past few months where I had a great round going into 17, but only finished well on 2 of those occasions. I added to the number of failed rounds yesterday by finishing with a triple bogie on 17 and 3-putt bogie on 18. I did however break 80 by one stroke.

I think the reason for my failures lies deeper than a simple inability to focus for an entire round or from getting overly concerned about the outcome. Golf, which we all know reflects our personality, is perhaps exposing an internal issue I have with success, causing me to break down on the last holes, ruining good rounds. I can think of other examples of this in my life.

It appears I better take a closer look at what golf is trying to teach me here. My golf game - and life - may be better for it.

Labels: Disciplines, Failure, Parento Principle, Practice, Rounds, Success