The 10/80/10 Principle

In May 2003, Chuck Swindoll spoke on the 10/80/10 Principle, which is: 10% of all people are innovators, 80% are maintainers, and 10% are inhibitors.

Innovators are always looking for a new way, a better way, an easier way, a more efficient way, a cheaper way, a more ergonomic way, etc. Inventors, entrepreneurs, problem solvers, most engineers and most business CEO's belong to this group.

Maintainers will change if you give them enough reason to do so. They are the steady, dependable, workhorse type that our society relies on.

Inhibitors are at all costs opposed to change. They would rather see the doors close than see change. If management is comprised of inhibitors, that organization is doomed, be it a factory, a business, a church, or the local Elks Club.

This principle is about your attitude toward change, not change itself, because not all change is good.

Since you are investigating cryogenics, you are apparently an innovator. Congratulations on being a part of the group that contains people like Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, R. G. LeTourneau, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.