80/20 and 90/10

A few weeks ago I had a meeting with a lot of marketing peers. I always like to meet up with peers to learn and review. This meeting was actually horrible: monotone and fatigue presenters. They had good ideas, nice concepts and beautiful designs, but it was if these marketers couldn't emphasise with it and lost there passion in what they do. No "This is it!!! You are going to like it and everybody else too." No, unfortunately it went on without any passion until the last presenter. I ask myself: Is this me? Are these the peers I relate to? How could we end up here? I felt afwul although I knew, a 100%, this was not me.   

And then, today, Hugh MacLeod's  gapingvoid cartoon #43 - '90%' March 18, 2010  ended up in my inbox: "90% of corporate life is feigning interest". It let you think about how many people at work are really interested in what they do. Hugh even suggest that you maybe should earn less for a job that you gives you more or brings you nearer to the 90% meaning in your everyday life.

And that is maybe exactly what was going on with the marketers I met a few weeks ago. They were doing there job exactly without feeling the passion and having real interest: "90% feigning interest".
It leaves me to conclude that Hugh McLeod rewrote today the 80/20 rule ( McKinsey) into the 90/10 rule:

If you only have 10% interest in what you do, 90% chance you will not reach your targetgroup.