What Is the 80/20 Principle?
The 80/20 Principle (also called the Pareto Principle) states that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes.
In consulting, this means:
👉 A small number of drivers create most of the impact.
Prioritization is the skill of finding those few things that matter the most — and ignoring everything else.
Why Prioritization Matters in Consulting
- Time is always limited (especially on 4–8 week projects)
- Prevents analysis paralysis
- Helps teams focus on the highest-impact areas
- Ensures recommendations are practical, not theoretical
- Improves decision-making under pressure
- Aligns stakeholders quickly
Consultants succeed based on what they choose NOT to do.
How to Prioritize Using 80/20 (Step-by-Step)
1. List all possible drivers, tasks, or issues
Use your issue tree, scoping, and hypotheses as inputs.
Example: 10 reasons churn may be high.
2. Identify the “vital few”
Look for:
- Big numbers
- Big changes
- Root causes
- Bottlenecks
- Levers you can actually influence
The goal is to find the top 2–3 things that drive most of the problem.
3. Quantify impact where possible
Even rough numbers are enough.
Example:
- 65% of churn comes from onboarding issues
- Only 12% comes from pricing
- Only 5% from app bugs
This instantly shows where to focus.
4. Evaluate effort vs impact
Use a simple 2×2 matrix:
- High impact, low effort → DO FIRST
- High impact, high effort → PLAN
- Low impact, low effort → OPTIONAL
- Low impact, high effort → IGNORE
This is how consultants choose what to work on.
5. Re-focus analysis accordingly
Stop analyzing branches that don’t matter.
Deep-dive only into the top drivers.
This saves hours — sometimes days — on real projects.
6. Keep validating as new data comes in
Prioritization isn’t one-time.
As you learn more, the top drivers may shift.
Strong teams re-prioritize every few days.
Mini Example
Problem: Drop in profit
Possible drivers: 14
After quick analysis:
- Two drivers explain 78% of the profit decline:
– Raw material cost increase
– Decline in one high-margin product
That becomes the focus.
The other 12 drivers are deprioritized.
This is the 80/20 principle in action.
Common Prioritization Mistakes
- Trying to solve everything
- Spending time on low-impact analysis
- Not using numbers (even rough ones)
- Ignoring feasibility
- Getting stuck on interesting but irrelevant insights
- Keeping all branches of the tree open
Consultants avoid these by asking:
“What will move the metric the most?”
Where Prioritization Is Used
- Issue tree selection
- Hypothesis testing
- Scoping decisions
- Work planning
- Slide creation
- Recommendation building
- Any scenario with limited time or data
Prioritization turns structured thinking into practical action.