The Diary
of
Anne Ku

23 December 2000 Saturday

WHOSE LAW IS IT?

WE are all familiar with Murphy's Law. I'm not even sure who Murphy was, whether he actually existed, and whether he did in fact make Murphy's Law and variations. It's ironic: work fills to the amount of time you have for it; clutter fills up the space; it will go wrong when you least expect it.

Metcalf's Law is about the networks - not additive but multiplicative. This is how fast networks will grow: n by n.

Moore's Law - I'll have to fill this in when I remember.

Barnum's Law applies to fortune telling and horoscope. It is possible to construct a sentence such that everyone will readily believe it is unique to them.

Cook's Law - hmmmmm. Can't remember what this was.

Pareto didn't have a law but a rule of thumb. It's the 20-80 or 80-20 rule. It seems to apply to everything. 20% of the staff produce 80% of the income. Conversely, 80% of the staff produce only 20% of the income. Similarly, 20% of your contacts will provide 80% of what you need. It seems to suggest that if you focus and get on the right track, you only need to expend 20% effort to get 80% results. Ah! But maybe it's the remaining 20% of the results that require 80% of your effort? It simply doesn't make sense, does it?

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