Reviewed by Bob Little
Can achievement and success come from doing less? This is the claim of Richard Koch who has built his own career and reputation on the age-old principle that 80% of our results flow from just 20% of the causes. So, for example 80% of sales usually come from 20% of customers and we send 80% of our emails to fewer than 20% of the people in our address book.
Now businesses have long been aware of the 80/20 principles, but does this principle also work for people in their own personal lives?
According to Koch it does. The key, he says, is to work out the few things that are really important and the few methods that will really give us what we want and to act on them while ignoring the mass of trivia that normally engulfs our lives.
This sort of attitude will be highly attractive to the many people who believe that the free lunch does indeed exist. It will also appeal to those who are looking for a better work-life balance and to people who believe that when it comes to success there must be a better way than simply working harder.
So you can probably tell already whether you will love or hate this book. It falls firmly into the ‘self-help’ category and if you believe that sometimes ‘less is more’ or that you can ‘create more with less’ then it’s probably for you. If, on the other hand you come from the school characterised by the view that hard work is the only way to guarantee results then steer well away.