20-60-20

The 20-60-20 Rule

In any profession the 20-60-20 rule applies.

On any given day at any given place of employment, 20 percent of the people that work there are incredibly responsible and will always strive to do their best and get the job done. they may want to be that responsible but they have this inner voice that tells them, "if not you, who? If you don't do it, it's not going to get done and bad things are going to happen". So, often at great cost to themselves, they still get the job done.

Next comes the 60 percent in the middle. They don't want to do anything bad, but they also don't necessarily want to do anything good. They just want to get by, put in their eight hours a day, and be unnoticed. They straddle the fence of indifference and really like it up there.

Then you have the final 20 percent. They are the worse. All they want to do is advance themselves while doing as little as possible. They lie, steal, and cheat for the greater good of ... themselves. They continually corrupt and manipulate the system to the detriment of the other 80 percent. And guess what? They couldn't care less. I'm willing to bet you know a few people from each category.

So in life, the trick as an employer is to find those those first 20 percent, hire them, and keep them happy.

What we all need to do is to get in, and then remain in, that first 20 percent.

Hard work, decency, street smarts, and persistence will conquer a lot of ills.