The Pareto Principle! 80% of your outcomes are determined by 20% of your inputs. I’ve heard this principle in business, sales, exercise, weight loss and relationships. Twenty percent of your customers give you 80% of your sales,etc. The problem, I think is determining what that 20% really is for each person and each team.
With pigs, I think the 80/20 rule applies to feed, water and air. Feed our pigs correctly and they will grow or give birth to a healthy litter. Same applies to water. Again, the same things applies to the air or environment. If we can make sure that activities around feed, water and air is done perfectly, will 80% of our results come from this? More or less? What do you think?
With people, the hard part is deciding what efforts in team development or relationships is the true 20%. Each person and team is different. Is it spending time with a person to talk about their child’s school project or their recent family vacation? Is it setting up quick and effective meetings in the morning so that your team knows the plan for the day? Is it spending your time educating each person on each job in a way that they can understand it? Is it taking 20 or 30 minutes of your day at the end or beginning and just walking through the sow unit to observe what needs done, what needs fixed, and what is being done right?
For me, as a high “C” on the Disc profile, my 20% is understanding the plan for the day and mastery of my tasks. For an “I”, it may be to have conversations with each person and understand how each person is doing today. As you get to know your team, you can get a feel for what type of traction will work best.
Then make sure that the 20% gets done and gets done right. You can protect or ensure that the 80% is always there.
Pigs and People 