Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the “work” will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work. Malcolm Gladwell
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The 80/20 principle is useful in understanding how the world works and why some people rise to the top and others don't. The principle measures the shares of things that people do and how much they contribute to those actions. In some situations, such as an economic system, 80 percent of what gets done is done by 20 percent of the population. In other situations, such as an epidemic, a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work. A virus is so small that even a single drop can cause an epidemic, but a single person with a virus can still spread it to many others.

Source: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference

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