Good day. Yes. You’ve guessed it. It’s business book review day…
This week I’ve re-read a business classic. Richard Koch’s ‘The 80/20 Principle’.
It’s amazing to think this book was first published in 1997. The principles though are timeless & just as relevant today as when first discovered over 120 years ago.
For those that don’t know. Some dude (Vilfredo Pareto) in the 19th century was looking into patterns of wealth & income. He found 20% of the population enjoyed 80% of the wealth.
Pareto then excitedly discovered this pattern was repeated consistently in different time periods & in different countries. With mathematical precision. Sadly though Pareto found it difficult to explain.
The theory lay dormant for decades. Until US engineer Joseph Moses Juran started to use the 80/20 principle to improve the reliability & value of industrial & consumer goods.
Although Juran had to do this in Japan. As no-one in the west was the least bit interested in his theories. Until the US saw his work had made Japanese goods a real threat to US industry.
Today the ‘Pareto Principle’ or the 80/20 rule has been adopted by many individuals & organisations as a viable business tool. And is seen throughout all aspects of life.
The principle states there is an inbuilt imbalance between causes & results. Inputs & outputs. Effort & reward. In its basic form 20% of doing some activity leads to 80% of the results you gain.
So in theory. You should identify the 20% of activities that lead to 80% of results & do more of them. Then stop doing the 80% of activities that only produce 20% of the results.
Some examples of the principle are: 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products or 20% of your customers provide 80% of your revenues. Go on measure them & see for yourself.
It’s very thought provoking & should be re-read every year. As you’ll learn something new each time.
‘The 80/20 Principle’ defo gets a thumbs up & a 5-rating stars.
If you’ve got any questions about the book, connect & message me on LinkedIn or drop me an email to darren@mytotalofficesolutions.com
Watch all our business book reviews at mytotalofficesolutions.co.uk/business-book-reviews
Thank you for watching & see you next week.
