What is Pareto's 80/20 Rule? Why did Juran name it after Vilfred Pareto?

Who was Vilfred Pareto?

Vilfred Pareto was an Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher.

He was the first to observe that 80% of the wealth in Italy belonged to 20% of people and 20% of the wealth belonged to the 80% of people. He left a great legacy in the field of economics but also contributed significantly to sociology and mathematics.

Who was Joseph M. Juran?

Joseph Moses Juran was a Romanian-American Engineer and Management Consultant.

Being an Electrical Engineer from the University of Minnesota, he took up inspection jobs in his early career that helped him draft splendid management principles that have given rise to his numerous literary contributions in the field of Quality Assurance or Control.

He is popularly known for a few of his works: The Pareto's Principle, the Juran trilogy, and the 10 steps for quality improvement.

Who actually invented the 80/20 Rule?

Based on Vilfred's wealth distribution theory, Juran observed the same model being applicable for various purposes and extended it. He observed that by fixing 20% of the major issues, 80% of problems were solved. It was also called as "the vital few, and trivial many." It was observed in economics, computing, sports, medicine, and other fields. Juran named the rule as Pareto's principle which is commonly called the 80/20 rule.

What is the 80/20 Rule?

The 80/20 Rule states that 80% of effects are caused by 20% causes. Though we expect everything in life to be fair, that is not the case most of the time.