Rating: 
Summary: Tired of wasting time on the trivial? You'll love this!
Review: Koch has honed in on the principle most of us have long suspected: that the majority of business is just "busyness", resulting in little productivity and even less satisfaction. Through excellent examplesand fairly straightforward writing, Koch will make you a believer and soon you'll use this to examine every aspect of your life. Even if you just get down to 60/40, you'll see a vast improvement. Trust me- don't just read 20% of this book!
Rating:
Summary: He beat me to it
Review: Understanding and utilizing The 80/20 Principle is a must. I have been talking about writing this book for four years, and now I am too late. The author articulates the notion that most of the things that a company (or individual) does are trivial, or can in fact have a negative effect on desired results.Anyone developing a marketing plan or a business strategy should take his advice to heart. I have successfully applied the 80/20 rule to simpify and improve the results of businesses in a wide range of industries.
Rating:
Summary: One great book...I am reading it for the second time.
Review: I work for a company that encourages and rewards people who put in long hours. After reading this book I realized that a majority of these people are doing it wrong! 80% of their time is spent on trivial, inconsequential activities. I started applying the "Principle" while reading this book for the first time and I have already seen some remarkable results - eliminating or reducing the amount of time spent on low-value activities. I will recommend this book to our senior staff and maybe we can all stop working harder and start working smarter.
Rating:
Summary: "innovative and revolutionary"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book and hope to impliment Koch'sstrategies into my work and personal life. I am interested in askingthe author a couple of questions regarding the 80/20 book and its principles.
Rating:
Summary: Learn how to double your results with 2/5 effort
Review: The 80/20 principle is one of those books where the idea keeps turning over in your head for days after you read it. The 80/20 rule is one that I use quite often in assessing business situations. The book consists of three parts, an introduction to the rule, its application to business and its application to one's life. Koch does a good job in showing how to apply the 80/20 rule in business. The real kick from the book is how Koch applies the 80/20 rule to living one's life. If 20% of our efforts yield 80% of the results we can increase our productivity 100% by doubling our 20% activities and eliminating the 80% activities. This would leave you with 60% of your time to do other things, more time with family and friends, hobbies, talking a walk.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing
Review: I heard of the "Pareto Principle" a long time ago -- the 80/20 rule which basically states that 80% of the results come from the efforts of 20% of the people. Koch has some ideas at the beginning of the book which show the value of the idea, and when he speaks about working "smart" as opposed to working "hard," I agree totally. His advice about zeroing in on the important "20%" is valuable -- provided, of course, that you know what that 20% is. However, when he tells us how we are to apply this to our personal lives, he has "left off preachin' and has started meddling." True, we are all social beings and we need each other in our interdependent culture. Family togetherness is wonderful, but having big family dinners each night and encouraging the warm, moist extended family suport is, in my opinion, overrated. I agree that the American family is often fragmented, but each family must work out its own way, finding the 20% that applies to that particular family, and not in one die-cut, predetermined way. "Nonconformity" is not my style, but I've made personal choices (such as waiting until late in life to marry) that don't always fit these predetermined ways to live, and my 20% may be different from the 20% of someone who has gone the "traditional family" route. (A "traditional family" can be as abusive and stifling as it can be supporting and loving.) I agree with the reviewer who said to read this book to look for the 20% that applies to you, and then ignore the other 80%.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: Great book. Everyone should read this book. You won't regret it. And, everyone already read it -- so if you want to know what others are talking about when they say 80/20 principle, you have to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you only read one book this year, read this one.
Review: This is the only review I ever wrote for a book, but this is such an important book, that I had to do it. On the face of it the book is self evident in many ways, as the entire book is summarized in its title, the 80/20 Rule: 80% of the results comes from doing the 20% of the work that truly mattered. Yet this book helped me become successful far more than my 2 years MBA. I read about 30 books a year, and in the past 5 years I feel this has been the book that helped me the most in my work and in my life, as it opened my eyes: Do only the 20% that matters the most, and you will have achieved 80% of the results. He also gives other good advice, do what comes easy to you, and become a top expert in it, outsource everthing else. etc..I feel everybody should read this book, it will help them achieve so much more and at the same time, save so much time and effort. It is Priceless advice.
Rating:
Summary: May Your Life Be Forever Changed By this Book
Review: This book can be a life-altering book if the concepts are properly applied. Among other things, the book covers the "winner-takes-all" phenomenon. I also think Richard Koch gives some of the best written advice that I have ever seen for career success. He calls them the "10 Golden Rules for Career Success." One, specialize in a very small niche. Two,choose a niche that you enjoy, where you can excel and stand a chance of becoming an acknowledged leader. Three, realize that knowledge is power. Four, identify your core market and your core customers and serve them well. Five, identify where 80 percent of effort gives 80 percent of returns. Six, learn from the best. Seven, become self-employed early in your career. Eight, employ as many net value creators as possible. Nine, use outside contractors for everything but you core skill. And ten, exploit capital leverage
Over the last year, I have applied most of the above Rules for Career Success and I have accomplished more in the last year than I accomplished in the last 5 years. The only thing I didn't like about the book was that there seemed to be a lot of "filler" or coverage of topics that seemed inapplicable.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing
Review: I heard of the "Pareto Principle" a long time ago -- the 80/20 rule which basically states that 80% of the results come from the efforts of 20% of the people. Koch has some ideas at the beginning of the book which show the value of the idea, and when he speaks about working "smart" as opposed to working "hard," I agree totally. His advice about zeroing in on the important "20%" is valuable -- provided, of course, that you know what that 20% is. However, when he tells us how we are to apply this to our personal lives, he has "left off preachin' and has started meddling." True, we are all social beings and we need each other in our interdependent culture. Family togetherness is wonderful, but having big family dinners each night and encouraging the warm, moist extended family suport is, in my opinion, overrated. I agree that the American family is often fragmented, but each family must work out its own way, finding the 20% that applies to that particular family, and not in one die-cut, predetermined way. "Nonconformity" is not my style, but I've made personal choices (such as waiting until late in life to marry) that don't always fit these predetermined ways to live, and my 20% may be different from the 20% of someone who has gone the "traditional family" route. (A "traditional family" can be as abusive and stifling as it can be supporting and loving.) I agree with the reviewer who said to read this book to look for the 20% that applies to you, and then ignore the other 80%.
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