Look for what is Missing
When applying the 80 / 20 Rule look at the 20 not the 80. The 80 / 20 Rule states that 80 % of the results come from 20 % of the items. Hence, most management teaching focuses on identifying the critical few that have the maximum impact on the results --- control these & you have mastered the situation. But experience teaches that the problem areas are in the 20 %. It is here that one sees the inroads of competition, the potential for growth or the disgruntled customers. It is the problem areas that consume management time & resources. That is why to achieve Six Sigma perfection we look at the extremes, the results that are beyond the limits. We then take steps to narrow the spread & to bring more items within control.
Raytheon CEO, Bill Swanson writing from experience in his path breaking notes, “Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management” states, “Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what’s there; few can see what isn’t there.” Finding the distortions, discrepancies, deviations, exceptions, variances, and discontinuities makes discoveries, what is missing. The Romans worshipped “Fortuna”, the goddess of randomness. W. Edwards Deming showed how statistics & randomness could be used to improve quality & thereby increase productivity, profits, jobs & the quality of life itself.
