The 80/20 Principle states that 20 percent of our efforts lead to 80 percent of our results. This is a very effective idea, especially for businesses that often lose time on non-profit activities. This is also true for people.
If you think about it, then you will most likely find that during the working day you spend less than two hours on what you do best. You probably spend the rest of the time helping clients, colleagues, and companies. But if you find a way to do what you do best all the time, you can improve productivity, increase the results of your work, give a tremendous boost to your career and become wealthy. And best of all, you don’t have to work longer and longer to get these benefits.
Following the 80/20 Principle will allow you to achieve more with less effort.
In the book Followers of the 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch explains how to do this. In his current activities, Koch advises hotels, restaurants and wineries. Prior to that, he was a consultant to the Boston Advisory Group and a partner at Bayne & Company.
Our summary of his book will reveal the nine steps for successfully applying the 80 to 20 Principle, which you can start following today.
HOW TO BECOME A FOLLOWER OF 80/20 PRINCIPLES?
The first mention of the 80 by 20 Principle appeared in the 19th century in a study by economist Wilfredo Pareto. He concluded that in all societies, a small group of the richest people, accounting for only about 20 percent of the population, has always accumulated the largest, that is, 80 percent, part of wealth.
In the mid-20th century, quality gurus Joseph Juran applied Pareto's concepts to business.
The main idea of \u200b\u200bJuran was the idea that the resolution of quality problems depends on the ability to distinguish true, vital causes from many secondary ones. In other words, the eradication of most defects depended on fixing only a few problems.
On the other hand, 20 percent of all the activities of a typical company provide 80 percent of all profits. For investments, 20 percent of investments, including capital investments, usually produce about 80 percent of the gain.
In relatively recent times, it has become clear that the 80 by 20 Principle can be applied not only to wealth and production processes. In fact, it applies to most aspects of human existence. Its essence boils down to the fact that most of the actions, sources and ideas are not valuable and produce few results. On the contrary, some of them work surprisingly well and produce a huge effect.
Using the 80/20 Principle has helped to improve product quality and has made many corporations and their owners rich. However, the purpose of your life is probably not to enrich other people. On the contrary, you want your fortune to be your reward for your own creative efforts and productivity.
If you follow the 80/20 Principle, and, accordingly, are a real creator of wealth, you are no longer a screw in the corporate mechanism.
If your individual efforts have become a true source of corporate income and the economic growth of society, most of the wealth should belong to you.
Over the past 20 years, there has been a more pronounced tendency towards the transfer of power and wealth to creative individuals.
These tendencies include:
Separation of funds from funds and property.
Noticeable growth in the use of labor by contractors and in the creation of business unions.
The return of the "master - manager" model.
Take a look at it this way: the essence of your deal with the owner is to perform certain tasks for you at a certain level of compensation. The more valuable you are, the better deal you can make. From this comes a true understanding of the application of the 80/20 Principle.
You do not need to be a genius to successfully implement the 80/20 Principle. If you are persistent, smart and hardworking, you will transform both your organization and, accordingly, your own life.
To become a follower of the 80/20 Principle, you will need to take the following nine steps:
First - Use the most creative 20 percent of your intellectual potential and imagination.
Second - Give birth and creatively recycle big ideas.
Third - Find several life-giving sources for your current or future business.
Fourth - Go “hand in hand with Einstein”, realizing the central role of time in the success of any business.
Fifth - Take in the company of talented people - the same as you, creators of wealth according to the 80/20 Principle.
Sixth - Take advantage of the profitable potential of your company for your own purposes.
Seventh - Take advantage of creative techniques and ideas of other companies.
The eighth - Provide yourself with sufficient capital for a successful business.
Ninth - Make “zigzag progress”, realizing that different stages of growth require a different approach.
80% of the results come from only 20% of the reasons - a principle reminiscent of the saying "Better less, but better."
The book will teach you how to choose and use the most effective actions and methods, the number of which is relatively small, so that the achievements perfectly match your goals, intentions, dreams.
Foreword
If you knew that you could enjoy all the great and amazing benefits that life gives, with less effort and expense, would you be interested?
If you could work two days a week, but get more significant results and pay than at the moment for a full week, would you be interested?
If you could find a simple solution to your problems, following the principle that always turns out to be true, would you be interested?
If this principle were applicable not only to making money, gaining success and achieving prosperity, but also to the more important things in life - the people you love and who are dear to you, as well as to happiness and the realization of your potential - you would be interested ?
Of course, it would be interesting. And you can really change your life using the 80/20 principle.
80/20 life is changing our perception of the world around us and our usual behavior, but following it is much simpler and easier than you might expect.
If we understand how the world works - even if it is built completely different from what we imagine - we can adapt to it and get much more than what we want, and with less energy. That is, by doing less, we can achieve more.
This book is about activity, but less activity
This is an extremely practical book, but at the same time quite unusual: it is devoted to describing the results of manifestations of lesser activity, and not more. As has been repeatedly proved, it is impossible to radically change life without changing the way of action. Everything that we do to achieve happiness far exceeds what is necessary, many of our efforts are wasted. In general, we can do only a little, only that which gives us happiness, and at the same time completely transform our life. We think and do more of the little that matters, and we do it better and more energetically, but at the same time, by and large, we do much less.
The hard way to life on the principle of 80/20
This lifestyle is based on a scientific law called the 80/20 principle, which has repeatedly proved its effectiveness in business and economics. According to this principle, 20 percent of the causes or efforts are 80 percent.
My earlier book, The 80/20 Principle, explains how to use this concept to increase company profits. I also included a small section on how to use the 80/20 principle to achieve success, happiness and well-being. The possibility of applying the principle in personal life gave rise to many heated controversial discussions. Some critics have argued that this is a great idea that deserves the closest attention, but it will be completely useless outside the business. However, those readers who tried to translate it into reality wrote to me that she completely changed their life.
The book The 80/20 Principle was translated into 22 languages \u200b\u200band sold in quantities of more than 500 thousand copies. It was conceived as a book about business, published in publishing houses specializing in business literature, and in bookstores it stood on shelves reserved for books about business, but somehow it began to be used as a book from the series “Help yourself”. The idea turned out to be so effective that readers who tested it on themselves then shared with friends, who in turn told their friends about it, extending this chain of oral advertising to the extent of a sensation.
The Pareto principle is one of the most famous and even hackneyed laws of time management. However, despite its obviousness and effectiveness, many people do not use it or do it at an unacceptably superficial level. In his book The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch carefully studied the experience of the practical application of this pattern in life and business. Read the most important thoughts of this work in brief.
80/20 Analysis
The method is based on the statistical identification of Pareto patterns in all areas of life. With it, we will find those factors that are more likely to affect the result. You will need 2 sets of data: data about the object of study (for example, your friends) and a certain parameter related to the object (in our example, beer consumption). And if standard statistical analyzes reveal some average values \u200b\u200b(or their distribution), then the 80/20 analysis is aimed at finding the extremes, the most prominent parameters.
You ask your friends how much beer they consume during the week, and then arrange the data in descending order. From the first friend (45 glasses of beer per week) - to the last (0 glasses). After that, you calculate the percentage. In our case, 20% of friends drink 70% of beer.
How can analysis results be used?
The first area of \u200b\u200bapplication is to concentrate on 20% of the most effective objects. If 20% of the customers in your brewery drink 80% of the beer, you should first of all try to satisfy their needs. If running brings you 80% of the pleasure, not gymnastics - pay more attention to the first type of activity.
The second area is to think about how to improve the effectiveness of the remaining 80%. Offer low-alcohol customers low-alcohol beer. Think about how you can get more pleasure from gymnastics, if you really have to do it.
Practical application of the principle in business
The 80/20 principle is very clear in the business field. It can be used both for studying its indicators (using the 80/20 analysis) and for practical improvement of the results.
Where do you make the most money?
The first thing you should do is determine what brings the most money in your business. To do this, analyze the following 3 parameters:
- Product - analyze which name or group has the highest profitability, while requiring a minimum of cost and action for their sales. In the process, you will also find those products that are almost unprofitable or even unprofitable.
- Customers - analyze who buys your products and how. Please note that although some customers pay large amounts, they can be expensive to maintain. Others (usually wholesalers) are picky, buying more. You must determine which type brings you more net income. Also try to change approaches in working with other customers.
- Competition segments - analyze the groups of products that have their competitors in one way or another with other companies. This will allow you to significantly improve your strategy for working in the market and will allow you to take a fresh look at methods of dealing with competitors.
Simplify
One of the explanations of the Pareto principle is the simplicity or complexity of certain system components. Some products are easy to manufacture, do not require much effort to promote and do not need complex service. They most often give the highest profitability. And if you are looking for what to do with 80%, which bring 20% \u200b\u200bof the income, the answer may be as follows: simplify.
Engage in key customers
The current obsession with customer service is largely contrary to the 80/20 principle. Satisfying 100% of the needs of 100% of customers leads to the fact that at times increases the complexity of the process and its cost. Which inevitably leads to a decrease in income. However, there are ways to achieve what you want much easier and faster:
focus on the ideal quality of 20% of the most profitable products;
focus on retaining and meeting the needs of 20% of customers who provide 80% of the profits.
Sales
Sales success depends on the performance of a particular seller and on the overall organization of the sales department. Subject these factors to 80/20 analysis. Surely you will find all the same ratio. Apply the following tips to improve your situation:
- encourage the best sellers so that they never leave you;
- hire more sellers of the same type;
- analyze the factors that contribute to high sales (time, special tricks, etc.), target other sellers to use them;
- direct efforts to sell 20% of the most profitable products;
- focus sellers' efforts on meeting the needs of the most valuable customers.
Making decisions
Until the mid-20th century, business was moving mostly intuitively. Over the past 50 years, armed with mathematics and economics, he has made a strong bias towards an analytic linear approach, which often gets bogged down in small things. The 80/20 principle strikes a balance between these approaches. Arm yourself with the following 5 rules:
- only a few decisions are important;
- often important decisions are uncontested; sometimes you just need to realize the need for change;
- use 80% of the data, perform 80% of the analysis in 20% of the time, but act as if you had done everything 100%;
- if something does not work, it is better to abandon it sooner rather than later;
- if something works, multiply bids.
Project management
We have already talked about the dangers of complexity - this is what management structures of a company often commit. The 80/20 principle helps streamline this process:
- simplify the goal - or at least break a complex project into several stages;
- set an impossible time frame - this way the team will deal only with really important things;
- plan more - the more time you spend on the project, the more attention you need to pay to planning;
- Implement the product after the final development - 80% of the key problems have their roots in the process of preparation and manufacture.
Paretto principle in life
Understanding the impact of few actions on serious results allows you to achieve a lot in your life. Work less, earn more and with great pleasure. Is this what all people dream of? This can be achieved using 80/20 Thinking.
Thinking 80 20
80/20 analysis works well in areas such as business and economics, which often deal with quantitative data. However, in other areas of life, the use of 80/20 Thinking will be much more practical. We will not count, we will learn to highlight the main factors of success and ignore the unimportant. In other words, we will learn to see the forest behind the trees. Your task is to search in all those 20% that determine 80% success.
Here are a few principles to help you apply this kind of thinking:
- concentrate on productivity, not intensity;
- look for opportunities to quickly achieve results, rather than perform the procedure;
- be selective in relation to new opportunities;
- strive for excellence in a little, not mediocrity in many things;
- delegate unproductive activities.
Time
Applying 80/20 thinking, we can notice very interesting patterns in the field. Most of the success we achieve in a short time. Most of the happiness we get from a few moments. Most of life is completely unproductive and does not bring pleasure.
Using 80/20 thinking can greatly improve this situation. Classic time management tries to put hours in minutes. We will concentrate only on the highest priority tasks. Now we will not look for time - we will try to use it effectively. Analyze your daily activities and identify the most productive and most useless activities. Invest in the first and get rid of the second.
Work
Work is a part of life and a point. The 80/20 principle allows you to find a balance between work and rest, as well as work with great pleasure and enthusiasm. Everything is extremely simple. If you are happy outside the work, you should devote less time to it or even change it. If work brings you true happiness - work harder, but try to increase the value of other activities.
In the modern world there are many opportunities to be anyone and monetize almost all your abilities and talents - use this.
Money
The logic of the Pareto principle is very good in making money. Let's think: minimum effort gives maximum result. What is your best effort? Most likely, those that you perform with pleasure, those that you like. Moreover, they are most likely obtained with the highest quality. Conclusion? Earn what you like to do.
You do not have to work hard to increase your capital. Investing is an area that perfectly illustrates the 80/20 principle. Minimal asset discovery efforts can ultimately be incredible. Invest as soon as you have "free money".
Relationship
In the social sphere of our life, the Pareto principle puts forward three fundamental statements:
- 80% of the value of all relationships is in the 20% of the latter;
- 80% of the value of the relationship lies in the 20% that were formed first;
- We give 20% to the most important relationships much less than 80% of the time.
Psychologists argue that the number of strong deep ties that we can form with other people is limited. We can make some friends - the rest will remain nothing more than friends. Only 1-2 sexual partners will always stand above the rest in our hierarchy of values.
All this suggests that we need to focus on the quality of existing relationships, and not on the acquisition of new ties. Spend more time and energy for those closest to you. Spend 80% of the time on them.
Professional relationship
Exceptional heights are almost never achieved alone. One way or another you need help. And therefore it is very important to be able to build relationships with a variety of people. The Pareto principle will help in this.
As in personal relationships, the list of key allies is small. Compose it and invest in maintaining just these relationships. Consider the effects of the following factors:
Mutual pleasantnessIs the foundation of a good relationship. However, often we have to communicate with not very nice people. Revise their value. Perhaps you spend too much effort and time on such.
General experience Is the best way to achieve intimacy. Use hard times to your advantage - establish relationships with people who go through the same things as you.
Mutually beneficial.You should not only respond to requests from other people. Sometimes you need to take the initiative. Do not be petty, but remember that the benefits must be mutual.
The trust- if the pleasure of communication is the foundation, the experience and the benefit are bricks, then trust is the cement that holds everything together. Remember that without it, any relationship is meaningless. Do not waste time on them if your partner is dishonest, but never give reason to doubt yourself.
Summary
The 80/20 principle is one of the fundamental laws of business and life in general. With its help you can achieve incredible success. Use 80/20 analysis in business and 80/20 thinking in social life to identify the most effective actions. Focus on their implementation - and thus multiply your results. Remember to look for an opportunity to improve the productivity of the remaining 80%.
To Nicholas Walt, with my belated thanks
As for the methods, there are millions of them, while there are very few principles.
The one who has learned the principles can successfully choose the methods that suit him.
Anyone who is experiencing various ways, not having an idea of \u200b\u200bthe principles, will surely be in trouble.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Foreword
About a year ago, I reread the tenth time 80/20 principle . I had to work with managers from some of the world's leading corporations, and I was amazed at how little they use this principle in their work. From conversations with them it was clear that they knew about the existence of the 80/20 principle, but at the same time did not apply it to their daily practical activities.
And I sent Richard a letter asking me to write a book that you hold in your hands.
Why did I do this?
Because I want in this world to have more management, built on the principle of 80/20. A lot more.
What does it mean?
I want there to be more highly successful managers transforming their companies and helping to achieve success for the people they manage; and at the same time, I want these managers to feel life in its entirety, to be happy and content. And most of all, I want the approach to doing business to change, so that everyone understands that ordinary actions can achieve extraordinary results - you just need to really strive for such results.
The merit of this book is its amazing practical applicability. You begin to carry out the acquired knowledge almost immediately after you start reading. Are you ready to take your life and your work to new heights?
The magic of the 80/20 principle is in its paradox. The magic gift of Richard Koch is the ability to clearly explain the paradox.
At the same time, it is very important to understand that, although it is becoming easier to achieve lofty goals thanks to Richard, it would be wrong to assume that this would not require any effort. The bottom line is that these efforts do not have to turn into hard work. They should not exhaust the soul. You do not have to sacrifice yourself. You do not risk destroying yourself or your loved ones. In fact, if you clearly feel any of the above, then you have gone astray.
The special effort this book so brilliantly inspires is made mentally. Do you agree think in a new way, on a different level? If so, prepare to humbly listen to the wisdom of one of the Masters. He will tell you how to use the most advanced of known tools, including those that you considered inaccessible to yourself.
If you actually begin to apply everything that will be discussed on the pages of this book, you will realize that you are making the most pleasant effort in your life, and this feeling will affect your entire environment. A properly learned 80/20 principle makes life better for everyone.
I watched with pleasure how this book was created: how Richard’s thoughts mature and how passionately he wants to help you, reader. This is one of those books that help you become better yourself and help everyone else in this.
Read this book, it will please you. Live on it, and you will understand how it transforms.
Everyone wants to work under the guidance of the 80/20 Manager.
Isn’t it time for you to become one of them?
Matthew Kelly, Singer Island, Florida
Maxim Gorky, At the bottom
Would you like to simplify your life and your work? Are you not afraid of the amount of work that seems to not be redone? Do not you think that it is not you who are conducting the work, but it is you?
If so, then you are not alone in this. Many managers feel the same way, especially in our difficult times.
But this problem has a solution. And this solution will not only allow you to increase your productivity exponentially, but will give you the opportunity to achieve this less hard work.
It really is.
To do this, you need to become much more effective manager, and this book will tell you how to do it. In addition, it is about how to get pleasure from work and build a successful career without stress and overwork, and how to achieve much more than what you can now, without self-denial and without depriving the attention of your relatives and friends.
How is all this possible?
And as you will see from this book, a careful examination of the question of what exactly is the most effective in your activity can lead to unexpected answers.
You will be surprised to find that most of the achievements are the result of a relatively small number of actions and expended forces. But these modest costs, bringing brilliant results, are usually hidden under a heap of actions, resulting in minor achievements, and often simply useless. Companies and managers look at averaged indicators, not particularly paying attention to deviations and extreme values, although they are really important.
This is known from an interesting economic principle, first formulated more than a hundred years ago by the Italian economist Wilfredo Pareto and since then has been repeatedly confirmed by many prominent economists and business theorists. The Pareto Principle, which I call the 80/20 Principle, is as follows: if you divide all the phenomena into actions and results, a relatively small number of actions (approximately 20%) almost always leads to a significant majority of the results (approximately 80%). So, for most of the achievements of mankind (and the great catastrophes in its history) a small group of people is responsible. In most car accidents, a minority of drivers are to blame. Several managers can make a company successful or destroy it. There is plenty of evidence that a company's profitability can be determined by just a few products, customers, or management decisions. It is often possible to increase profits at times if we concentrate on the most important customers and goods, i.e., sell more highly profitable goods to several extremely profitable customers.
15 years ago I wrote a book in which I extended the principle to my personal life. In this book, I look at the work of managers and some things they should do to maximize its results. To begin, I will introduce you to the Principle and explain how it works. However, first of all, this is a purely practical book on how to apply the Principle in practice. If you are bad with numbers, you can skip the second chapter of the first part, which deals with the Principle itself (although reading it does not require knowledge or interest in economics and statistics). The essence of the book is contained in the second part, in which you will get acquainted with ten ways to become a super-efficient manager. You can be absolutely sure that all these methods are based on scientifically sound economic law, although its effect is manifested in an unusual and often paradoxical way.
Half of the success in the fight to become a significantly more effective manager depends simply on the awareness of the confusion surrounding us - a world in which most of the activities are a waste of time, and just a few well-thought-out steps can change your own life and the lives of the people who are you surround. As you read, you will make for yourself a series of amazing discoveries that will completely change your outlook on life and work. For instance:
To get long-term sustainable results from a little effort, the manager needs leverage. We will look at seven sources that can provide leverage.
The most successful managers do not help only themselves. They help people to establish relationships among themselves, especially those who are not familiar with each other and who are in different parts of the world.
Dear (and often beloved) leaders, take some time to inspire, support and guide their people on a weekly basis. Soon you will see how disproportionately large the return is in this case in terms of productivity growth and strengthening team spirit compared to a relatively small effort.
Effective managers give their employees freedom of action in what they do best. However, this is not an easy decision, requiring complete honesty and openness on both sides, as well as high demands on the results.
The manager should not have a lack of time, he can have it, even if in the outside world the account is kept for seconds. The most outstanding results are obtained when you step back from the hustle and bustle.
All brilliant careers can be reduced to several infrequent, but fundamentally significant decisions.
Outstanding successes are the result of a combination of conscious laziness with a sharpness of thought and exceptional ambitions.
Some of the ten ways to become an outstanding manager can be learned quite easily. Others will require efforts, but only to really change their own approaches, and not the efforts that are traditionally understood as hard work and hard search by trial and error. All 10 methods bring phenomenal long-term results. This is not only about financial results, but also about an excellent mood, caused by an understanding of the benefits that you bring to other people.
All this sounds too tempting. Not without a catch?
There are three such tricks!
To benefit from new approaches, you will first need to want to get rid of your old ideas and work habits. You will have to keep up with the crowd and start thinking through everything yourself. At first this is not easy, but then it will become a habit.
The second catch: you need to work at a suitable job, in a suitable company and with a suitable boss. In general: you can distinguish yourself where the spirit of free creativity is encouraged, rather than restrained. Alas, there are few such companies and such posts. However, they are, and they are quite easy to find. Usually they are very successful, grow amid stagnating or dying competitors, and their employees are happy.
Third catch: you must want something from your life. I mean, you must really want to achieve something with all your heart and soul. And if you are serious, then it does not matter what it is about.
If these three tricks do not scare you, read on. As Karl Marx, one of the most original thinkers of the 19th century, put it on a different occasion, you have nothing to lose but your chains.
And you can purchase a whole wonderful world!
Part 1. Are you overloaded?
1: Would you like to make your life and work easier?
Roy Grace felt more and more clearly that his life had turned into an endless battle with the clock hands. It seemed to him that he was participating in an endless game show in which there were no prizes or winners. While he answered one “mail”, another 50 fell into the inbox, looked through one folder with materials - 10 new ones were immediately formed on the desktop.
Peter James, Die Tomorrow (1)
Work is exhausting. Do you think so too? Mountains of documents are piling up on your desk and in your inbox. It seems to you that you do not have time. You are struggling to close all to-do items. You work late. They constantly call you on your mobile. At work, it seems to you that you are drowning, and at home you feel guilty. You think you can never handle this amount of work. You suspect that the authorities do not understand this and he does not care.
If at least in part it is, I have good news for you.
Work does not have to look like this.
I will not deny: these problems exist, and for most managers they are growing.
I started my career 40 years ago in a large oil company. The organization had many levels of management and units, it was all very difficult, but it did not seem exhausting, and many people were happy to help. The managers of that time were bored because they were not particularly busy. I had to follow simple working procedures, the job description was clear, and my colleagues had plenty of free time to show me what and how to do in a particular case.
On Fridays around noon, the senior employees of my department went to the pub for a 2-3-hour lunch with a drink, and after a while I was allowed to join them. And then I found out that many of my colleagues do not like their work, but I have never heard anyone complain that they are too busy. The work was in a large - even more - to a degree pleasant conversation. During the day, you could always find time to put your feet on the table, fuss and do your own business. In the 1970s, no one (that is, really no one!) Stayed in the workplace during lunch.
Around the same time, Robert Townsend, who turned Avis from a small business into a successful international company, did something unique to the manager of the 1970s. He wrote a book! He was so tired of the bureaucracy in business, which hit all levels of companies and interfered with live work more and more, that he launched an artillery salvo at fat cats at the helm of Corporate America, accusing them of squandering profits and suppressing people. The book was called Up the Organization! . .
“In a regular company,” wrote Townsend, “there are three properties related to messengers, the president, vice presidents and girls from the machburo: they are obedient, lacking enthusiasm, and are stupid” (2). America has become the "nation of office plankton," "mortal, trained to serve immortal institutions." His message to the business captains was: “Your people are not lazy or incompetent. They just look so ...
Some of Townsend's accusations are quite relevant today, after more than 40 years. But he said so: "They are fooling from idleness." Sounds weird, huh? Maybe it's sarcasm? No, he was quite serious. In 1970, there was still too little managerial work.
How time has changed! Excess people disappeared a long time ago. Constant “reorganizations” are burdened with ever-increasing work by a constantly decreasing number of managers. The most misplaced word used in the vocabulary of managers today is “delegation” - that is, the process by which you are favorably allowed to carry out two or three job descriptions instead of one. Drinking lunches can be forgotten, which is probably the best for your liver. However, you may be surprised to find that you are too busy to grab a sandwich in the middle of the day.
Today's slogans are operational efficiency, which means constant cost reduction; commoditization, which means minimizing the costs of production and sale of products at the same time as depriving them of any signs of personality, accountability, which means the ritual bastard of someone in the event of a fall in profits ... moreover, you may turn out to be this “someone." If you are not ready to play such games, you can rest assured that there are plenty of zealous enthusiasts who will joyfully begin to do your work for a tiny fraction of your salary. It may sound good for customers, but for employees, managers and for the company as a whole, this is a complete mess.
It is not surprising that the vast majority of managers consider their work to be debilitating: it infuriates, disturbs, keeps in constant tension, complicates life, tires and demoralizes. But a small number of managers managed to reverse the trend. They are optimistic and confident, they feel free and happy. They do not complicate their work and their life.
This book is about two types of managers: those who always maintain control over what is happening, and those who never succeed. If you feel that you are of the second type, I’m ready to please you: you can break through and join the successful 20%. But, before we begin to move in this direction, I suggest you perform a small test that will help you determine what type of managers you belong to. Answer each of the questions as quickly as possible without thinking about it.
Manager fluoroscopy
1. How long have you been in your current position?
2. How long have you been working in this organization?
3. How many hours a week do you work?
4. Do you make yourself written lists of tasks?
5. Do you like your work? Do you "fly" at her in the morning?
6. Do you have enough time to finish everything you want to do?
7. Did you move up the career ladder?
8. Do you like your immediate superiors? Do you feel his support?
9. The same question about the bosses of your bosses.
10. Do you have any valuable ideas about your work that your colleagues do not have?
11. Do you often feel stress or overwork at work?
12. Do you think that you could do something completely different in a completely different field?
13. Do you communicate with clients every week or almost every week?
14. Do you follow a simple strategy that suits you and your team well?
15. Do you have a mentor or mentors?
16. Do you regularly dine with different acquaintances - not work colleagues?
results
Question 1: If you have been working at your current place for less than two years, write yourself 1 point, 2–4 years - 0 points, more than four years - 2 points.
Question 2: If you work in this organization for less than four full years - 1 point. 0 - if you are in it for 4-7 years. If you spent 7 or more years in it - 2 points.
Question 3: If you work 35 hours or less, write down 2 points, 1 point if 36–40 hours, 0 if 40–49 hours, 2 points if 50 hours or more.
Question 4: 2 points with a negative answer, 0 with a positive answer.
Question 5: 2 points for a positive answer, 0 for a negative one.
Question 6: 2 points for "no." 0 - for "yes."
Question 7: Also.
Question 8: Also.
Question 9: Also.
Question 10: Also.
Question 11: Also.
Question 12: Also.
Question 13: 2 points for "yes", 0 for "no."
Question 14: Also.
Question 15: Also.
Question 16: Also.
Count the result. We will return to its decoding at the end of this chapter.
Two ways to guide
You know the standard way of leadership either because you were taught it, or you simply absorbed it from the environment:
You work hard, often linger in the office, you are very visible and easily accessible.
You are constantly busy, demonstrating a vibrant activity.
You respond to the introductory notes of your superiors and colleagues on time and clearly. For example, you respond immediately to emails. This is nothing more than simple politeness that looks completely natural. And at the same time, this way you create excessive internal communication of the company and spend time on it.
You have a certain freedom of thought about your work and your actions, but only within the framework of corporate policies, team game rules and management desires.
There is an unwritten rule according to which you should not stand out too much in appearance or demeanor from the mass of your colleagues and bosses.
In practice, this approach quickly leads to congestion. You are trying to keep up with your own affairs, and you can not do it in any way. Characteristically, this tension is most pronounced on the holidays or before the holidays ... and immediately after you return to the office. Sometimes it seems that the work is categorically against any rest and intends to take revenge.
Another control method is much less common, but unbroken paths often turn out to be smoother. If you are one of these infrequent managers, then:
You usually spend less time at work compared to the rest. Sometimes you work too late, but only because you like it, or when it is really necessary for an urgent solution of a particular problem.
Although not fashionable, you are not very active. Sometimes you can sit at your desk without any papers or electronic devices at hand. You spend a lot of time thinking and devoting a lot of attention to face-to-face conversations with employees. You spend a lot of time outside the office.
You focus on results, not on incoming information. Your incoming document tray is full. You have hard filters for spam, but there are a lot of unanswered messages in your inbox. Despite this, you often do not see the need to immediately respond to incoming documents or emails, preferring to do this on a schedule at certain hours. Every morning you choose which task you will solve today and do nothing else until you are done with it.
You try not to complicate your work. You ignore or get rid of the nonsense that habitually clutters the heads of your colleagues. First of all, you do what can be done quickly, but can be important. And if possible, you delegate everything else or simply do not pay attention to it.
You are a calm nonconformist. You are a team player, you are friendly and accessible, but often your statements surprise colleagues. You may be inconsistent. You ask a lot of questions. You think over unthinkable things. You are experimenting. Sometimes you need a lot of time to make a decision, but when it is made, you are unshakable ... at least until your opinion changes. In short, you do as you see fit.
You consider yourself successful, but your understanding of success may not coincide with the opinions of others.
At first glance, you are very similar to your colleagues, because you do not flaunt your differences from them. Only those who know you well or work near you understand how unusual you are. The biggest of these differences is that you are not tense, take your time and, as a rule, are in a good mood.
So, it turns out that the difference between the vast majority of managers and this rare alternative variety lies only in temperament, character and other personality traits?
No, it is not. The difference is not in what they feel, but in their way of thinking.
They use secret weapons, although in reality there is no secret. They will be happy to share it with you if you ask. But almost no one asks them about it.
Simply put, they understand the Principle and use it constantly both at work and outside it.
But can all their successes, happiness and lack of stress be explained by the mere presence of one modest knowledge?
Exactly. And we will see why this is so in the next chapter.
But first, back to the results of our test. Do you feel overworked and overwhelmed by stress for most managers, or the few that I call 80/20 managers? The more points you earn, the more likely you are in the second group. The minimum number of points is 6, the maximum is 30.
If you have 25 or more points, you are already acting as an 80/20 manager.
15-24 - you are not yet an 80/20 manager, but are moving in that direction.
If you, like most managers, scored less than 15 points, this is also good. No, that’s really good. Because if you are ready to change your attitude to work, you can become much more effective and happier. And, therefore, there is no reason not to want to do this!
The following books by Richard Koch were published in Russian: “The 80/20 Principle” and “Living the 80/20 Principle”. It is planned to translate and release the book "Individual 80/20". Based on Koch’s books, an undated “80/20 Diary” was developed (M .: Eksmo, 2014).
(Richard Koch) (b. 1950), Richard Koch is a management consultant, businessman, and author of great books on the principles of the Pareto law (80/20 rule) and its application in all areas of life.
Koch has extensive experience in the practical use of this law; he used these concepts to profit from several of his own investments. Richard has invested in companies such as Plymouth Gin, Filofax, the Great Little Trading Company and Betfair, he is a co-founder of L.E.K. Consulting.
Previously, he was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, and then at Bain, before opening his own firm.
In his books on the 80/20 phenomenon, he discusses the basic principles of how the universe works, and the process of evolution takes place, as described by Charles Darwin, and as a special case, the use of the 80/20 principle in business and work.
Richard Koch download books for free
80/20 principle
Eighty percent of the results come from only twenty percent of the reasons - this is the principle, realizing the truth of which, many people and organizations have succeeded. The book offers you to learn how to achieve more with less, that is, to master the basic secret of increasing labor efficiency.
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80% of the results come from only 20% of the reasons - a principle reminiscent of the saying "Better less, but better." The book will teach you how to choose and use the most effective actions and methods, the number of which is relatively small, so that the achievements perfectly match your goals, intentions, dreams.
