A principle which states that in any series of steps in a process, such as the diagnosis of a patient’s problem, there are a “vital few” steps and a “trivial many.” The procedure for identifying the vital few and the trivial many is called a Pareto analysis. The Pareto analysis makes feasible productive efforts at quality improvement since, once the “vital few” steps where efforts pay off can be identified, appropriate action can be taken. The Pareto principle is also the key to optimizing the care possible under a condition of limited resources. The principle was developed by J.M. Juran, an authority on quality, and named after an Italian economist named Pareto.
The principle that only 20% of one’s goals contain 80% of the total value; therefore, good time management involves spending most of one’s time on the most important 20% of one’s goals.