The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less

Manish Mathew
3 min readMay 20, 2023

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The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less is a book written by Richard Koch, a British author, consultant, and entrepreneur. Koch is known for his expertise in business strategy, management, and entrepreneurship. He has written several books on these topics, including “The Star Principle” and The 80/20 Individual.”

“The 80/20 Principle” challenges conventional thinking and encourages readers to question assumptions and prioritize their activities based on their true value and impact. If you are ready to provoke your mind and learn new things let’s start the summary.

📌Identify the vital few: The vital few are the 20% of activities, tasks, or inputs that contribute to 80% of your desired outcomes or results. It’s crucial to identify and prioritize these high-impact areas.

📌Eliminate or delegate the trivial many: Focus your time, energy, and resources on the most significant factors that drive the majority of your results. Eliminate or delegate tasks that don’t contribute to your goals.

📌Focus on high-leverage activities: High-leverage activities are those that generate the most significant results with the least amount of effort. By directing your time, energy, and resources towards these activities, you can maximize your productivity and effectiveness.

📌Apply selective perfectionism: Rather than striving for perfection in every aspect of your work, focus your perfectionism on the vital few. Identify the critical areas where perfection is most valuable and prioritize them, while accepting good enough for the less impactful aspects.

📌Challenge assumptions: Question conventional wisdom and challenge assumptions about how things should be done. Look for alternative approaches and opportunities that can yield disproportionate results.

📌Focus on high-value customers: Identify and prioritize your most valuable customers or clients — the ones who contribute the most to your business or personal success. Provide exceptional value and service to maintain and strengthen those relationships.

📌Set meaningful goals: Set clear, specific, and meaningful goals that align with your values and priorities. Focus on goals that have the potential to generate significant results and create the greatest impact.

📌Optimize time management: Apply the 80/20 Principle to your time management. Identify the few tasks that contribute the most to your goals and allocate your time accordingly. Avoid time-wasting activities that provide minimal value.

📌Constantly reassess and adjust: The 80/20 Principle is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process. Regularly evaluate your activities and inputs to ensure you are still focusing on the vital few. As circumstances change, adapt your approach and priorities accordingly.

By implementing this strategy, you can streamline your efforts, make smarter decisions, and achieve more significant results with less time and resources. The key lies in identifying and prioritizing the vital few while minimizing or eliminating the trivial many.

If you liked the summary, you will love the book: here is the link to order this book from Amazon- “The 80/20 Principle”

About Manish Mathew:

The Founder and CEO of Intelligent Investors, It is an honour to lead a company that prioritizes ethics and integrity in all its operations.

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Manish Mathew

“If I need to keep winning, I need to keep improving” Life is short but full of opportunities, however, remember opportunities meet the prepared man.