Table of Contents
Beginning
In the fields of technology business and personal growth new acronyms and frameworks are always popping up claiming to be the next great thing. Some evaporate into nothingness while others transform the way we do things at their core. You may have seen the word “85po” on a forum a business meeting, or a tech whitepaper and wondered what it really means and why it seems to be getting so much attention.
Is it a hard algorithm? A plan for business? A trick to get more, done? The truth is that 85po is a complex idea that can be all of these things and more. It shows a strong change in thinking that is supported by a method that can be put into action. Learning 85po isn’t simply about learning a new word. It’s about finding a better more efficient and more meaningful approach to reach your goals whether you’re creating a new software starting a marketing campaign or planning your own growth.
What does 85po mean? Breaking Down the Acronym
The main meaning of 85po is “85 Percent Optimisation.” It is a principle that says that 85% completion or optimisation is the best place to be for advancement
The concept is predicated on the principle of diminishing returns. Think about making a table. It might take you a weekend to do the first 85% of the labour, which includes sawing the wood, putting the frame together, and installing the tabletop. You can get to 85% by sanding it smooth, putting on a first coat of finish, and making sure it works and is strong. Your table is in great, shape and works well.
The last 15%—sanding between each coat, adding five additional coatings of a perfect finish, and polishing it to a mirror shine—could take you another two weeks. The time, energy, and money spent on that last small improvement are often greater than the value it adds. The 85po concept says, “Wouldn’t it be better to say the table is “done” at 85% and move on to making a chair?”
What makes the 85po Principle so important right now?
We live in a time of speed. Market cycles are shorter, customer tastes change more quickly, and technology is always in risk of becoming obsolete. In this situation being fast and flexible is not just helpful it’s necessary for survival. The 85po concept is very important for a number of reasons:
It makes you put things off (because you’re afraid you won’t do them perfectly), get burned out, and be unhappy all the time. 85po gives you a way to escape from the mental burden of being perfect and instead accept being exceptional and on time.
Speeding up Time-to-Market: In business, the first person to move often has a huge advantage. A product that is 85% optimised and released today can start making money get feedback from real users and take market share. A perfect product that comes out six months later might not be useful anymore or have missed its chance to be useful.
Helps with Agile Learning: Starting at 85% lets you learn by using it in real life. You can find out what users do what they enjoy and what they don’t like. This feedback is much more useful than guessing what might happen inside the company. The remaining 15% of optimisation may therefore be based on real demand instead of guessing, which makes it much more useful and effective.
Optimises Resource Allocation: Time, money, and human energy are all limited resources. The 85po principle makes you think about: Is putting all of these extra resources into making this one thing better the best way to use them? The response is typically negative. You could use those resources to start two new projects at 85%, which would greatly boost overall output and value generation.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Putting the 85po Principle into Action
Adopting 85po is a planned process. It’s not about performing bad work; it’s about producing work that is really efficient. Here’s how to make it work:
Step 1: Set the main goal and what done means,
You need to know exactly what the main purpose of the project is before you start. What is the least amount of achievement that would mean success? For a website, it may be: “Users can easily find product information and make a purchase.” From a functional point of view, this is your 100% “done.” This essential goal is satisfied
dependably when the score is 85%, even if not all the bells and whistles are there.
Step 2: Break the Work Down into Parts
Break your project down into its elements. Use a framework like the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to find the 20% of tasks that are most important and will get you 80% of the results. To get to 85% these are the most important things you need to do.
Step 3: Set Clear 85% Standards
This is the most important phase. You need to explain in both numbers and words what the 85% threshold looks like. Stay away from unclear words.
Bad Criteria: The design looks nice.
Good Criteria: The website loads in less than 2 seconds on mobile the checkout process passes tests 95% of the time and all core pages pass accessibility checks (WCAG AA).”
This clarity stops scope creep and gives you a clear end point for this phase.
Step 4: Keep going till you reach 85%
Put all of your energy into finishing the most important parts, you found. Don’t give in to the need to add, just one more feature, or keep changing something that already works. “Does this get us closer to our defined 85% mark?” is your mantra. If not store it for a later date.
Step 5: Release Start or Finish
This is what it means to be brave. You have to pause and genuinely put the effort out there. Make the version, at 85% Version 1.0 Send it. Put it out there. Put it out there. This action is what makes the principle real.
Step 6: Get feedback and make changes
When your work is done, change from creator to analyst. Look for feedback, measurements, and statistics on purpose. What is it being used for? What are the problems? This input will help you plan your next iteration cycle. The last 15% of work is now based on facts instead of ego, which makes it more efficient and useful.
Benefits of Using the 85po Model
There are many and important benefits to this approach:
You get a lot more done in the same amount of time. The total effect of several initiatives at 85% is far greater than that of one project at 100%.
Less Stress and Burnout: Letting go of the need to be perfect takes a lot of mental stress off of you. People and teams, feel more accomplished and like they are moving forward.
More creativity and new ideas: A faster cycle of build-measure-learn lets people try out more things. You can try out ideas that are more risky because it costs less to get to a testable 85% state.
Better resource management means you spend your time, money and energy on the things that give you the greatest value which greatly increases your return on investment (ROI).
More Competitive Advantage: By moving faster, you can go ahead of competitors that are still engaged in interminable development cycles, striving to make a product perfect for a market that may have already shifted.
The 85po Principle: Pros and Cons
Every framework has its problems, and 85po is no exception. Knowing about them is important for successful implementation.
Risk of Being Seen as Sloppy: If consumers or stakeholders want perfect final products an 85% release may be seen as sloth or low quality. This necessitates meticulous management of expectations and communication regarding the iterative process.
Not Good for All Industries: In some sectors being imperfect can have terrible effects. You don’t want a heart pacemaker an airplane’s flight control system, or a big financial audit to be working at 85% of their best. The idea works best when the cost of making a mistake is low.
Finding the 85% threshold might be hard for new or complicated projects because it’s not always, clear what 85% means. This could result in putting something out that is really, not finished or stable.
The discipline needed to stop at 85% must be matched by the discipline needed to carefully choose the next 15%. The iteration process can get too big and slow down if there isn’t clear direction.
Internal Resistance: Team members, who are perfectionists may have a hard time with this method because they feel like their product is being shipped half baked. It’s important to get people to buy into the culture.
Important Things for a Successful 85po Implementation
To get through the tough times and make the most of the good time pay attention to these important things:
Strong Leadership and Communication: Leaders need to support the philosophy explain why it is important and protect the team from outside pressure to be flawless, too soon. Letting users know about the release process is important This is our first version and we’d love your, feedback to make it better.
A Culture of Psychological Safety: Team members, should feel safe to share work that is good but not flawless
even if small problems come up. This encourages a culture of trying new things and learning.
Strong Feedback Mechanisms: The whole paradigm falls apart if there aren’t good ways to collect and analyse data after the launch. Put money on tools for analytics surveys of users and ways for people to give feedback.
Disciplined Prioritisation: The capacity to prioritise tasks and features without mercy is what drives 85po. Techniques like MoSCoW (Must have Should have Could have Won’t have) are quite helpful.
Clear Definition of Quality: The 85% mark must never lower core quality, especially when it comes to safety
data integrity and security. The 85% is about scope and polish not basic reliability.
Conclusion: Is 85po the Right Thing for You?
The 85 Percent Optimisation idea isn’t a law that applies to everyone but it’s a very useful rule of thumb for the current world. It helps those who are stuck in perfectionism get moving and learn and evolve.
If you:
You work in a field that moves quickly like IT digital marketing, or the arts.
You or your team have trouble with putting things off or getting burned out from trying to be flawless.
The cost of waiting is more than the cost of a small mistake.
You can rapidly get feedback and act on it.
If you:
You work in a field where failing can have serious safety, legal, or financial effects, including medicine aircraft or structural engineering.
Your audience or customers demand and value perfection above all else (like some high end products).
You don’t have the self-control to keep iterating after the first launch.
In the end 85po is more than just a way to get more done it’s a way of thinking about how to make progress in a practical way. It recognises that in a complicated environment waiting for flawless information and perfect results will make you obsolete. By accepting the power of done we open up the possibility of learning, changing, and eventually making things that are truly amazing not because they are perfect but because they exist they work and they are always getting better. The idea is not to stop at 85% but to know when to move on so that you can reach 100% of your potential in all you do one optimised step at a time.