The Harsh Realities Of The 80/20 Rule

BusinessThe Harsh Realities Of The 80/20 RuleByPaul Perreault,Forbes Books Author.for Forbes BooksAUTHOR POSTExpertise and opinions of authors published by ForbesBooks. Imprint operated under license. | Paid ProgramMay 12, 2026, 03:16pm EDT80 percent of results usually come from 20 percent of people. gettyThe 80/20 Rule says that 80 percent of results usually come from 20 percent of people. Early in my management career, I ignored this truth. Instead, I spent my time trying to “save” the bottom 80 percent. I thought my job as a manager was to “fix” them. Instead, I wasted endless hours and burned myself out. Meanwhile, I unwittingly ignored my Top 20 Percent People, leaving them feeling unseen and unappreciated.My regional manager finally set me straight. He said, “Paul, you already know who your bottom performers are. Yes, give them some time and direction to course correct, but it has to have a limit. Then you let them deal with the consequences. Your job is to focus on your top performers, the ones who are actually adding value.”That conversation changed the way I led. I started focusing my energy where it mattered most: on the people who were contributing, growing, and eager to improve. That’s where impact could compound the most.One of the hardest lessons I had to learn was to stop trying to save everyone. Instead, I had to accept the harsh reality:Not every part of a business—or every person in it—is worth saving.That sounds cruel at first. But it’s far more cruel to leave someone in a place where they aren’t thriving and give them false hope that they can figure it out.Years later, I ran into one of the bottom performers—and she thanked me for letting her go. Turns out our conversation helped her realize she didn’t dislike sales, just the type she had been doing. She had thrived in a different sales role and had even met the love of her life because of it!Add & SubtractYears later, as CEO, I repeated the same mistake. I gave senior leaders far too much ti...