You can decide. “Decide what?” you say. You can decide any number of things: what to wear, when to sleep, when to rise. But the most important decision you can make in 2015 is the decision to be an impact player. Decide that. Decide that now. Say it. Say it out loud. “I will be an impact player.”
Now that you have decided, now that you have committed yourself by verbalizing your decision aloud, let’s talk about what it means to be an impact player and how you will go about keeping your commitment.
The secret of impact players was discovered by an obscure Italian boy named Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto was an engineer, economist, and social scientist and he discovered a secret about human achievement that had escaped the brightest minds in all the world. Pareto’s secret has the power to change your life.
While researching land ownership in his native Italy, Pareto discovered that 20% of the population owned 80% of the land. Something clicked and he began to see if the distribution pattern held true in other aspects of life. He discovered that 20% of the peapods in his garden produced 80% of the peas! A marvelous and powerful secret of productivity and human performance was exposed as Pareto researched and wrote about the Pareto distribution.
It was quality control expert Joseph Juran who stumbled onto Pareto’s writing and recognized the powerful secret as a breakthrough in human productivity and problem solving. It was Juran that coined the term, Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle is alternatively known as the 80-20 rule or the Law of the Vital Few. This powerful secret is used by the largest corporations of the world to secure their economic position. For example, Microsoft found by fixing the top 20% of the most reported bugs, 80% of errors and crashes could be eliminated. In another example, a 1992 United Nations report demonstrated that the richest 20% of the world’s population controlled 82.7% of the world’s income. (United Nations Development Program (1992), 1992 Human Development Report, New York: Oxford University Press). Empirical research shows that in large organizations, the top 20% produce 80% of the results. These are the vital few. These are the impact players.
The real secret is that there is room for you among the vital few! In your world, in your sphere, you can be among the 20% that create positive results. You can be among the movers and shakers that shape the world. Often times people use the acronym SMART goals to set goals. At least once each year Griffin Hill coaches share our unique brand of SMARTER™ goal setting with our clients. We help clients focus time and attention on activities that really make a difference. Inherent in Griffin Hill’s SMARTER™ goals is the commitment to evaluate and adjust every day, every week and every quarter throughout the year. That is one of the secrets to Griffin Hill client success. Now you can do it too. Choose a high leverage activity. Set a goal. Track your performance.
You can decide. Decide now! Say it. Say it out loud. “I will be an impact player this year. I will be one of the vital few!”
