Focus on the 20% that Drives 80% of the Impact

I’m continuing my miniseries on 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 by Geoff Woods , and today’s focus is from Chapter 12: 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘐.

Woods shares a powerful principle: 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁.

Think about that for a moment.

• What are the 𝟮𝟬% 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙚?

• How much of your team’s energy is being drained by the other 80%?

This is where AI can change the game. Instead of drowning in repetitive reporting, scheduling, and data prep, project managers can:

• Free up capacity with AI‑powered automation.

• Focus leadership energy on decision‑making, stakeholder alignment, and strategy.

• Multiply their team’s contribution by clearing away the busywork.

For PMOs and transformation leaders, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚—𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. AI gives us the leverage to shift from managing process to orchestrating impact.

Reflection: If you automated just one repetitive task this quarter, how much more capacity could you free up for your team to focus on the work that truly matters?