Achieving More With Less

When done well, 20% of efforts can produce 80% of the results.

But, in reality, the Pareto principle (the 80/20) is often more disproportionate.

I quote Tim Ferriss ’ “4 Hour Body”:

“To be perceived as fluent in conversational Spanish, for example, you need an active vocabulary of approximately 2,500 high- frequency words. This will allow you to comprehend more than 95% of all conversation.”

Sounds wonderful, right?

Why not up the ante and aim for a 100% fluency?

But to get to 3% more comprehension (98%), it would require you at least 5 years of practice. A huge jump from the mere 5 months that 95% comprehension requires.

As Ferriss helpfully explains:

• “2,500 words is a mere 2.5% of the 100,000 words in the Spanish language”
• “2.5% of the total subject matter provides 95% of the desired results”
• “This same 2.5% provides just 3% less benefit than putting in 12 times as much effort.”

This is the essence of what Tim Ferriss calls “Minimum Effective Dose”.

Pigeonhole Principle

Ages ago, I learned about the Pigeonhole Principle.

But it’s a practical application of the principle that stuck me.

Problem: “Suppose you have a drawer filled with red, yellow, and blue socks. If you blindly reach in, how many socks do you need to pull out in order to guarantee that you have two socks of the same color?”

Answer: “If we only pick out 3 socks, then we could have a red sock, a blue sock, and a yellow sock, each of which is a different color. So, we need to pick out at least 4 socks.”

Marginal Utility

In economics, marginal utility is defined as the “additional satisfaction a consumer gets from having one more unit of a good or service.”

When you’re starving, the first dosa you eat is bound to be extremely fulfilling. The second, good. The third, not nearly as great. At the 6th dosa, you may repel against the thought of consuming more.

Marginal utility is also why lifeless diamonds are infinitely costlier than life-giving water.

As this article states: “The greater the supply we have of something and the more we use it, the less we value it. We have oceans of water, pumped to many of us ceaselessly by the gallon. We have far fewer diamonds, hidden and embedded in rock. Their intrinsic value becomes secondary to the subjective value we assign them.”

(In a sober vein, the people of Bengaluru may beg to differ with the above theory.)

How Does It Work?

In my experience, there are many life-real applications of the theory. I’m relating my top 3.

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1. While working on a long-term project, it’s best to find the optimal frequency at which to update the stakeholders. I found stakeholders most relieved when the project updates are shared with them every Friday morning. It reassures them about the project progress. Should anyone inquire, they can confidently relay the updates.

Daily updates are not just tedious for us, it’s an overload for the stakeholders too. In my experience, a week is just the time when it feels apt (not too early, not too late).

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2. When working on multiple projects, we face this dilemma:

A) Should we spread thin and move the needle in many projects?

B) Should we fastrack a few projects even as we pause other projects?

The solution depends a lot on the company culture. If you’re at a small or mid-sized company, option (B) might work for you. However, in most companies you might have to choose option (A).

Stakeholders are apt to think their project is a priority. And, they need to know that their project is being attended to on a continuous basis. Therefore, it’s best to spread yourself to an extent where you can show tangible progress on each project.

Grappling with more than what you can handle can backfire. High-intensity focus on fewer projects may not be accepted.

The exact number is something only you can decide. But you already have directional clarity now.

3. Ever so often, we’re engaged on projects that require us to step up our knowledge in a short notice. However, I have often observed that to appear informed on the subject, we do not need expert-level knowledge. We only need to know select bits and pieces of information that most relate to our business to sound confident.

I’m not hinting at bluffing. On the contrary, it’s knowing well just the right amount of key information that, in turn, helps you connect many other dots effortlessly.

Observing things your sales teams emphasize gives you a fair idea of customer expectations and competition. Attending product demos typically helps you with the features and benefits your company deems most important. Noticing the language your marketing teams use gives you a glimpse of how your company wishes to be seen and why.

Conclusion

Why is it important to think of these concepts?

It’s impossible to acquire expert-level knowledge on every discipline you fancy. But we can always know enough about a subject to make educated choices.

Our supply of time and energy is limited. Yet, we’re required to have basic knowledge about many things. It makes sense to optimize our way and get the best of what our finite efforts can achieve.

Let me share an example before I conclude. A friend got into excellent shape in the span of 5 months. Upon inquiry, he confessed his visits to the gym are rarer than ever. What changed?

His trainer gave him a rigorous 20-minute regime that severely punished most of the body parts. Over time, constant refinement in the exercise regime has allowed him to get to great shape by devoting less than 2 hours a week for fitness.

Now, that’s a fine real-world example of the concept.

If you have worked your way to a “Minimum Effective Dose” in any field, please do let us know the details.