The 80/20 Principle : The Secret of Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch – Twentieth Anniversary Edition

Be more effective with less effort by learning how to identify and leverage the 80/20 principle: that 80 percent of all our results in business and in life stem from a mere 20 percent of our efforts.

The 80/20 principle is one of the great secrets of highly effective people and organizations.

Did you know, for example of The 80/20 Principle The Secret of Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch that 20 percent of customers account for 80 percent of revenues? That 20 percent of our time accounts for 80 percent of the work we accomplish? The 80/20 Principle shows how we can achieve much more with much less effort, time, and resources, simply by identifying and focusing our efforts on the 20 percent that really counts. Although the 80/20 principle has long influenced today’s business world, author Richard Koch reveals how the principle works and shows how we can use it in a systematic and practical way to vastly increase our effectiveness, and improve our careers and our companies.

The unspoken corollary to the 80/20 principle is that little of what we spend our time on actually counts. But by concentrating on those things that do, we can unlock the enormous potential of the magic 20 percent, and transform our effectiveness in our jobs, our careers, our businesses, and our lives.

What is the 80/20 Principle?

The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards. Taken literally, this means that, for example, 80 percent of what you achieve in your job comes from 20 percent of the time spent. Thus for all practical purposes, four-fifths of the effort–a dominant part of it–is largely irrelevant. This is contrary to what people normally expect.

So the 80/20 Principle states that there is an inbuilt imbalance between causes and results, inputs and outputs, and effort and reward. A good benchmark for this imbalance is provided by the 80/20 relationship: a typical pattern will show that 80 percent of outputs result from 20 percent of inputs; that 80 percent of consequences flow from 20 percent of causes; or that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of effort.

In business, many examples of the 80/20 Principle have been validated about The 80/20 Principle The Secret of Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch. Twenty percent of products usually account for about 80 percent of dollar sales value; so do 20 percent of customers. Twenty percent of products or customers usually also account for about 80 percent of an organization’s profits.

In society, 20 percent of criminals account for 80 percent of the value of all crime. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of accidents. Twenty percent of those who marry comprise 80 percent of the divorce statistics (those who consistently remarry and redivorce distort the statistics and give a lopsidedly pessimistic impression of the extent of marital fidelity). Twenty percent of children attain 80 percent of educational qualifications available.

In the home, 20 percent of your carpets are likely to get 80 percent of the wear. Twenty percent of your clothes will be worn 80 percent of the time. And if you have an intruder alarm, 80 percent of the false alarms will be set off by 20 percent of the possible causes.

The internal combustion engine is a great tribute to the 80/20 Principle. Eighty percent of the energy is wasted in combustion and only 20 percent gets to the wheels; this 20 percent of the input generates 100 percent of the output!

REVIEW

From The 80/20 Principle:

To learn how you can tap the hidden potential of the 80/20 principle in your life, read Richard Koch’s exciting new book.

“For a very long time, the Pareto law [the 80/20 Principle] has lumbered the economic scene like an erratic block on the landscape; an empirical law which nobody can explain.” Josef Steindl

“The 80/20 Principle can and should be used by every intelligent person in their daily life, by every organization, and by every social grouping and form of society.  It can help individuals and groups achieve much more, with much less effort.  The 80/20 Principle can raise personal effectiveness and happiness.  It can multiply the profitability of corporations and the effectiveness of any organization.  It even holds the key to raising the quality and quantity of public services while cutting their cost.  This book, the first ever on the 80/20 Principle, is written from a burning conviction, validated in personal and business experience, that this principle is one of the best ways of dealing with and transcending the pressures of modern life.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RICHARD KOCH is the bestselling author of The 80/20 Individual. An extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, his ventures have included consulting for hotels, restaurants, personal organizers, and the distilling industry. A former consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and former partner of Bain and Company, he currently lives in London, England.

Book Details:

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing; Updated Twentieth Anniversary edition (22 May 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1473656877
• ISBN-13: 978-1473656871
• Package Dimensions: 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm