The Human Condition: The Pareto Principle

By Daniel Schnee on June 8, 2022.

What do the works of Canadian painter Christopher Pratt, the re-election of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Wayne Gretzky have in common? Though seemingly the set-up to the best pro-Canadian joke ever, the answer is: almost nothing. I say “almost” because there is actually one little connection that becomes rather significant, when viewed from the standpoint of effectiveness, or efficiency.

The paintings of Christopher Pratt (who died last week at the age of 86) are evocative demonstrations of his expertise in detail and colour mixing. Yet at the heart of his work is his ability to seemingly “edit” his subject matter down to the barest form necessary, a “less-is-more” approach with great emotional impact. He was also the designer of the flag of Newfoundland and Labrador, which itself seems to symbolize the balance he sought between austere minimalism and beauty.

Doug Ford was recently re-elected, though he ran without a clear platform and was out of the media eye for much of his campaign. He won with 41% of the total votes cast, which themselves consisted of only 43% of the overall population of Ontario. This means Ford won with a voter turnout that was almost the lowest ever in the history of Canada, a major victory with little effort on Ford’s part. His reasoning for the surprising victory is that he made great inroads into the Greater Toronto Area, the cities clustered around Toronto, by offering leadership based on labour union support, and boosting the economy through the development of much needed mineral resources… rather than merely yelling at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all day and night.

As a four-year-old child, Wayne Gretzky used to sit in front of the television, tracing the movements of the puck on a piece of paper. Whenever play stopped he would look at the paper and note how and where the puck had moved, deciphering any relevant strategy his drawings might reveal. This method demonstrated a commitment to ultra-efficient thought, to honing the mind so Gretzky could have maximum awareness of game play (which made him almost supernaturally aware of game details others missed).

This ability to do a little yet achieve so much can be understood through the study of factor sparsity, better known to the public as the Pareto Principle or the “80/20 Rule.” Named after 19th century economist Vilfredo Pareto, the basic idea is that there is an uneven, inverse proportion of actions to results, e.g. 80% of the overall results come from only 20% of our efforts. Thus, those who master a skill or rise to the top of their field become good at isolating those few things that produce the most positive results, and cease wasting time on inefficient, fruitless effort. The Pareto Principle is not well known outside of economic or statistical circles, but due to its usefulness as an overall life concept probably should be, considering the current state of our world.

Why is there economic strife? What is the right way to understand climate change? Somewhere in life there is an answer to all our most pressing questions, and analyzing them through the lens of the Pareto Principle will go a long way toward finally addressing them all.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist and jazz/rock drummer

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