80/20 · Strategy → program & project → the day
80/20 is not a mood about focus. It is one ranking, read at three levels: the goals that create the weight, the programs and projects that charter it, and the three blocks the day actually holds. Work with no goal behind it is activity; a goal that reaches no project is an intention; a project that never reaches a block on a calendar is a document.
Items ranked
5
A — the vital few
2
Day blocks issued
2 / 3
Planning findings
0
The architecture
01
Where the weight comes from
Value stream goals carry the cross-functional commitment — one stream owner, one shared measure pair — and function goals carry each function's contribution. Nothing enters the ranking without a named goal behind it.
02
Where the work is chartered
A goal that never reaches a chartered project stays an intention. Programs and projects are the containers: scope, owner, gates, evidence. The register is what makes 80/20 auditable instead of a preference.
03
Where the result is actually produced
The vital few become A-level blocks — 3 of them, by name and by hour. B-band work is scheduled but not blocked today, and C-band work is recorded so the decision not to work it is explicit.
Daily practice sheet →The ranking is re-read on the ARC™ loop — Assess, Refine, Commit — because the vital few change as the enterprise changes. A ranking that never moves is a ranking nobody is using. Run it as a scheduled loop.
The action
Enter candidates from both directions — goals and the active register — then score each one. Weight is impact × confidence ÷ effort; the list is sorted by weight and banded on the cumulative curve. Record owners by role, never a third party’s personal data.
Load a CSV of your goals or project register — a Compass 80/20 export re-imports unedited. Columns are matched by header name, so a rearranged sheet still lands. Weight, band and day blocks in the file are ignored: the ranking re-derives them from impact, confidence and effort. Owners must be recorded by role.
Highest weight in the list at 12.5, carrying 46% of total weight. The top item is always A: something has to be first.
Weight 6.67 lifts the running total from 46% to 71% — still inside the first 80% of weight, so it is one of the vital few.
The running total was already 71% before this item, so its 15% lands past the 80% line at 85% — real work, scheduled, but it does not earn a block today.
By this point 85% of the weight is already committed; this item's 11% sits beyond the 95% line at 96%. It is the trivial many — named, and deliberately not worked.
By this point 96% of the weight is already committed; this item's 4% sits beyond the 95% line at 100%. It is the trivial many — named, and deliberately not worked.
The audit
The scores as entered, the arithmetic written out, and the point on the cumulative curve where the band was set. Weight is impact × confidence ÷ effort, rounded to two decimals; share is that weight against the total of every item listed. A band that cannot be argued with is an opinion, not a ranking.
5 × 5 ÷ 2 = 12.5 · 46% of total weight · 0% → 46%
Highest weight in the list at 12.5, carrying 46% of total weight. The top item is always A: something has to be first.
Scores are balanced. Position moves only if the impact claim or the effort estimate changes.
5 × 4 ÷ 3 = 6.67 · 25% of total weight · 46% → 71%
Weight 6.67 lifts the running total from 46% to 71% — still inside the first 80% of weight, so it is one of the vital few.
Scores are balanced. Position moves only if the impact claim or the effort estimate changes.
4 × 3 ÷ 3 = 4 · 15% of total weight · 71% → 85%
The running total was already 71% before this item, so its 15% lands past the 80% line at 85% — real work, scheduled, but it does not earn a block today.
Scores are balanced. Position moves only if the impact claim or the effort estimate changes.
4 × 3 ÷ 4 = 3 · 11% of total weight · 85% → 96%
By this point 85% of the weight is already committed; this item's 11% sits beyond the 95% line at 96%. It is the trivial many — named, and deliberately not worked.
High impact carried at high effort. Cut the effort — smaller scope, a pilot, or a first slice — and the weight rises without touching the claim.
2 × 2 ÷ 4 = 1 · 4% of total weight · 96% → 100%
By this point 96% of the weight is already committed; this item's 4% sits beyond the 95% line at 100%. It is the trivial many — named, and deliberately not worked.
Low impact is doing the work here. No change in effort or confidence will make this one of the vital few.
2 items
Carries the first 80% of weight. Blocked into the day by name and by hour.
1 item
Real work with a date, but it does not earn a block today.
2 items
Recorded so the decision not to work it is explicit rather than accidental.
No blocking findings: every item is traced to a named goal, program or project and owned by role. The ranking can be worked as a day plan.
The discipline
A ranking that is never re-read stops describing the enterprise. Set the two prompts — complete the worksheet, and rerun the planning audit — then mark each one as it is honoured so the gap is visible rather than assumed.
The worksheet has not been completed on this device. Rank the candidate work and mark it done.
The planning audit has not been rerun on this device.
Reminders are stored in this browser only. Export the calendar file to carry the prompts onto a phone or desktop calendar — nothing is sent anywhere from this page.
The record
Two streaks are kept and never merged. Delivery counts consecutive days where every A block issued was worked — that is execution. Plan counts consecutive days that opened with no blocking finding — that is the quality of the thinking. A day can hold one and break the other, and which one breaks is the instruction. A day nobody closed breaks both: an unrecorded day is not a passing day.
Delivery streak
0
Longest 0 · every A block worked
Plan streak
0
Longest 0 · no blocking finding
Delivery rate (all days)
0%
0 of 0 A blocks worked
Blocking findings / day
0
Needs three days in each window to compare
Issued blocks and open findings are read from the live ranking above, so the record cannot disagree with the plan it came from. Enter only what was worked.
2
0
0
