Business

I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. – Warren Buffett

Mistakes are the price of admission of learning or as Thomas Edison once said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  – Dad

The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, defines how causes and outcomes correlate. It states that 20% of causes drive 80% of outcomes.

Interestingly enough, 80% of all profits likely come from just 20% of your customers. The lesson here is don’t try to be all things to everyone. It will dilute the effectiveness of serving your most important clients. – Dad

Hunches or “gut instincts” have their place but not as a substitute for actual hard data. As entrepreneurs we are predisposed to thinking in extremes. Everything can seem amazingly good or disproportionately bad. A little benchmarking against industry norms will go a long way towards setting the record straight. – Dad

New directives won’t stick unless someone other than the boss champions the process. Most employees will wait it out rather than embrace the suck. To optimize success you must build a coalition of the willing if the juice is to be worth the squeeze. – Dad

In every business, employees tend to fall into four categories. Your A-players drive the majority of revenue. At the other end, D-players contribute as little as 6% and create drag on the organization.

The real management challenge lies in the middle. B-players often embrace the culture but lack the skills to perform at a high level. C-players have the skills but resist the culture.

The key to leadership is recognizing who sits where—and then deliberately leveling up your middle, while refusing to carry the dead weight.- Morne Smit