The Vital Few Give Success to You
By: Hubert Crowell
Richard Koch, in his book, The 80/20 Principle, he describes the principle as comprising of radar and autopilot. The radar for insight and the autopilot for control. In other words to easily think 80/20 and act 80/20 in all that we do.
Vital Few
Even if we accept the idea, it is hard to take the next step and take action. Continually think about the vital few and spend more time and effort with them and avoid the majority.
A few people add most of the value
The best people who are matched to the right job are the most productive and generate enormous surpluses, far more that what they make personally. These are usually only a very few with the majority generating little more than they make personally. This problem is greater in larger and more diversified companies.
There are many reasons for this:
The entrepreneur with four employees knows who is making the organization money and how much without a P&L department. Where a large company depends on misleading accounting data and filter provided by the head of human resources.
Misallocation of resources
We continue to give resources to activities with low margins and few resources to activities with high margins. We should redirect the majority of resources to the activities with the highest profit margins.
Success is undervalued
Success is too often thought of as a lucky break. There is always something behind that lucky break even if we fail to recognize it.
Look for small causes, small products, small firms, small markets, small systems, as all of these are often the start of something big. Our attention is usually on what already exists not on the trend shown in small things.
Stop thinking 50/50
The best way to start thinking 80/20 is to start acting 80/20 and the best way to start acting 80/20 is to start thinking 80/20.
Jesus spoke in parables to the masses and showed them miracles, but he spent time with the few and taught them the meaning of the parables and the power to work miracles. Jesus knew the value of the 80/20 principle and the results it would produce.
Assignment: Read Chapter 8 of The 80/20 Principle, By Richard Koch, ISBN 0-385-49174-3
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Optional Exam: List at least five areas where thinking and acting 80/20 could help you.
Course Outline
Business:
Personal:
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