A consistent minority can change the world

I have always believed a few passionate people can make huge changes - whether it is in the local childrens drama group or Microsoft Corporation and anything between those extremes

In my experience anything that has really had a lasting impact and genuinely changed things can always be traced back to an individual - or maybe a couple of people - who then find a like minded folks to work with.

'Twas ever thus as well.......

I believe Christopher Columbus was called an eccentric, mad person for suggesting the world was round.

I stumbled across this wonderful summary recently and I think it sums things up very neatly

What do you think? .... and what are the implications for leaders in 2005?

Richard Koch (1998) presented an analysis of Pareto Principle as it applies to leadership and management. Koch argues this 80:20 rule is found in almost every part of modern life from stock investment to time management. He suggests that leaders and managers should find the highly leveraged 20% elements in an organization and pour their energy into these highly-productive people and activities that have influence beyond their apparent size. Thus, the 80:20 rule has been expanded far beyond its first economic use. Leaders soon learn that a minority of people produce the majority of results.

While one might quibble about the 80 percent or 20 percent (it is sometimes 60:40 or 90:10), the insight is broadly applied to leadership and management. The "80:20 rule" has become one of the best known leadership shorthand terms reflecting the notion that most of the results (of a life, of a program, of a financial campaign) come from a minority of effort (or people, or input).

Some applications of the 80:20 rule in church leadership are:

• 80% of the work is usually done by 20% of the people.
• 80% of the problems are usually caused by 20% of the people.
• 80% of the value of my day is often produced by 20% of the activity.
• 80% of my mentoring multiplication will likely come from 20% of the mentees.
• 80% of our new converts will probably come from 20% of the programs.
• 80% of the giving in a capital campaign often comes from 20% of the gifts.
• 80% of the quality can be achieved in 20% of the time -- perfection takes 5 times longer.
  
  Taken from;
  
  LEADERSHIP THEORY FOR PASTORS by Sharon Drury PhD, Organizational Leadership. Sharon.drury@indwes.edu