Rating: 
Summary: Not Recommended
Review: This is a book shallow in content. The financial suggestions, which state that most of the money should be invested in a relatively few stocks are not only misleading but also very foolish. He argues that 80% of our investment profit comes from only 20% or fewer of our portfolios, but my question is : 'which 20%' ??? I think all of us will not hesitate to invest all our money on a particular stock if we know for SURE it will give us profit. But do you dare to invest as what Mr. Koch suggests 'put all your eggs in a basket and watch it like a hawk' without knowing exactly what will happen next second? Despite the fact Mr. Koch boasts himself as a Wharton-graduated MBA and a really smart guy, his writing lacks insightful comments and deep thoughts. His writing on financial management is just a joke. Ahh, I forgot, on studying 'techniques', he says that we should not read but browse through our text books. Instead of paying serious effort to study, he suggests we should 'guess' and study for 20% of the material that will likely be asked in the exam questions. I invite all readers to read and compare his and Stephen Covey's book. You will see what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: The "Big Rocks" Can Be Found Under the "Little Pebbles"
Review: This one will really make you think--with so many projects, issues, problems, etc., we deal with daily--a person can become overwhelmed and not know where to start. The 80/20 Principle really helps you to reframe your thinking as you start into the problem analysis mode. As the title suggest--it's the little things that can lead you to the big fix or solution. The author provides many examples of the phenomenon--The Pareto Principle. One of my favorites that I use on many occasions--is that last 20% of time left in a meeting is where you will make 80% of the decisions.
Rating:
Summary: I liked this book so much, I only read 20%
Review: Of course, I still had to pay the full price. The 80/20 principle is practical and can be powerful. Koch gives interesting and effective examples of application.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Thinking !!!
Review: All you need for the 80/20 thinking! It's all about time management, but beware, you must be willing to take a complete new approach to it. Koch's principles are light years ahead from todays time-management. I'm an MBA student, and the book gives me tools to make study life much easier...
Rating:
Summary: An excellent idea, but 20% of the 5 stars is taken out coz..
Review: because it's also packed with other BS, like lecturing you on how to use your life and other areas where the author has no authority in. He pointed out some of the voice of opposition, and beat them one after one, However, there is some very important one that he left out. I'm a Hong Kong Chinese, in our 5000years' culture, Yin and Yang has came to play from the very beginning, the author seem to ignore this. For example, he tells you to analyse your life and see which 20% of your life give 80% of your happiness and concentrate on that 20% only. I did just that years ago, but I only got worse, Life is a balance between work and play, you enjoyed that 20% of (yang) activity because you are released from that 80% of (yin) activity. 80% of the tastefulness of hamburger is from 20% of the meat inside, but if you drop the bread on the top and bottom, its taste will become too strong, it'll lose its favor. Similarly, perhaps your honeymoon or a graduation trip to Europe was the most wonderful experience, yet, if you redo that over and over, by principle of marginal return, it'll be boring. If you follow his advice, pretty soon, you'll get bored of everything. 20/80 can be applied perfectly to work, but to play, not so. I also wonder if the author will think 80% of sex pleasure derive from 20% of the time between (yang)climax, so, probably we should drop the (yin) foreplay all together? Well... women suffers if guys do this. ;>
Rating:
Summary: Forget Time Management
Review: Though the 80/20 principle is easy to grasp, it is helpful to have a practical guide to get tips from. That's what this book is about. What I found most insightful is that Koch says not to manage your time better, but go through a TIME REVOLUTION. There are seven steps to do this. Of them, the best I think is to "Make the difficult mental leap of dissociating effort and reward....Hard work leads to low returns" There are many more useful tips in the book, so I recommend buying it.
Rating: 
Summary: Please dont take it too far.
Review: The good point about 80/20 per se,is that is makes us think beyond the averaged statistics of anything,to find the underlying picture. However,it takes two slices of bread to make a jam sandwich,it takes four legs to hold up a table : please dont neglect what might seem little,but is infact an important part of the structure of something.
Rating: 
Summary: A PROFOUND PRINCIPLE WITH BROAD IMPLICATIONS & APPLICATIONS
Review: The "80/20 Principle" was a discovery made by Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century economist. His discovery was profound and has broad implications today. In a limited sense, the author has done a tremendous service by re-introducing the subject to the general public. The problem with Koch's book is that it can be summed up in a paragraph at most and really does a disservice to the essence of Pareto's findings. Paretos's findings have touched a great many students of business and economics. In fact, every MBA graduate at one time or another has heard of the "80/20 Principle". The "80/20 Principle", also know as Pareto's law, simply states that approximately 80% of the output is a result of just 20% of the input. In Pareto's case, he found that 80% of the world's resources/wealth was under the control of just 20% of the population. Please note that the use of the term 80/20 is used loosely and is not to be taken literally. The disproportionate relationship could easily be 90/10, 65/25, 70/10, etc. The basic idea behind Pareto's law is that the relationship between input and output is rarely if ever balanced. The key then is to isolate what input is causing the most output. This law can apply to an infinite number of disciplines and can be used to increase productivity on the micro and macro level. The list of relationships goes on and on, but here are just a few examples: 1) Business: Customers-to-Sales, Product Lines-to-Sales, Items-to-Sales, Raw Material-to-Finished Product. 2) Sociological: Automobile Type-to-Number of Accidents. 3) Personal: Hours Worked-to-Productivity, Types of Investments-to-Investment Returns, Scheduled Tasks-to-Personal Happiness. In a nutshell, do not waste money on the purchase of this book. The explanation cited here is the 20% needed to apply the "80/20 Principle" to all areas of life.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF MY TOP 3 BOOKS - EXCELLENT.
Review: I HAVE INFORMATION THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T HAVE, DUE TO THIS BOOK. IT MAKES OTHER PEOPLE'S METHODS LOOK SILLY. THIS IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW HOW THINGS REALLY WORK. SIMPLY EXCELLENT.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant !
Review: All you need for the 80/20 thinking! Beware, you must be willing to take a complete new approach to topics like success or time-management. Koch's principles are light years ahead from todays time-management. I'm an MBA student, and the book gives me tools to make study life much easier
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