I have worked in sales for years, so I am very familiar with the 80/20 concept as relates to business. Simply stated in my field of real estate it's a proven fact that in different markets of the country and over time 20% of the agents make 80% of the income. This is true in other types of sales as well. Of course the flipside of this is that the large 80% of the agents only make 20% of the income. Basically a small number of people make most of the money. Why this is has been debated, but it seems to be a consistent rule that holds.
Koch points out how 80/20 is seen in other areas. For example 20% of taxpayers account for 80% of IRS revenue. What Koch does then is expand this rule to all aspects of life. He says that the 80/20 rule holds for all kinds of activities. He says that 20% of your work activity is responsible for 80% of your productivity on the job. And that 20% of your leisure time is responsible for 80% of your happiness. When I read this I just knew intuitively that it is true. So the next step is to figure out what the 20% activities are that are paying off the 80% returns in your work, or personal life, or anything. And then devote your energy into those activities and receive huge returns. He says that we're better off focusing on our strong suits where we're most effective rather than focusing our attention on the areas where we think "we need to improve". This idea alone is priceless.
This is practical, useful material that you can put to use today in your business and personal life. Koch has some seemingly offbeat ideas about playing with time unconventionally, boosting happiness, productivity through being "intelligent and lazy", and more that I loved. It really opened my mind to a range of possibilities.
Koch is a successful businessman who says he researched and could find no other books written on this subject.
In a non-linear world:
1) Celebrate exceptional productivity . . .look for the short cut. . .be selective. . . only do what you do best. (pg 38)
2) Keep it simple. Size often creates complexity - which in turn creates inefficiency. Pour your effort into the 20% that makes a difference. Sometimes it is better to lose unprofitable customers to competitors (pg 93)
3) Hold on to your good customers and employees forever!
4) The key to 80/20 is not time-mangement. Don't try to do more. Just do more of the right things.
5) Do what you enjoy because enthusiasm and success is a complementary cycle.
6) Three great lists:
The top 10 low-value uses of time (pg 161)
The top 10 highest value uses of time (pg 161)
The ten golden rules for career success (pg 194)
Excellent book