WHY LESS IS MORE: THE PARETO PRINCIPLE IN A NUTSHELL - ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER

L e s s
is
Why
M o r e
The Pareto Principle
in a nutshell
How
you can
boost your productivity
by working less
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
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This book is for all who are striving for
excellence and would like to be more
effective in all areas of life.
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What if it’s the wrong tree?

WORKING HARD IS
NOT ALWAYS THE BEST
THING TO DO.
This sounds counter-intuitive.
Because we have been told that it is hard
work that makes the day.
But is that so?
The answer is, “yes, and no.”
It depends.
What is, if you are busy cutting down a
tree, but after a while, you find out that it’s
the wrong tree.
In other words, working hard is a good
thing.
But, you need to make sure that you are
doing the right thing.
Because if what you are doing yields
minimal results, then it is time to re-think.
And perhaps find something that yields
better results.
Instead of plowing on.
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Working smart—this is what it is all about.
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Instead of doing something fundamentally
flawed.
In other words, we should not mistake
being busy with being productive.
Some people may be inherently lazy, but
they are very smart.
If they only do things that bring them
results, they are better off than people who
are super diligent but are doing things that
don’t bring them results.
Robert Koch poignantly puts it like this:
One of my favorite quotations comes—
rather oddly perhaps—from one of the
Prussian army officers called Erich von
Manstein, who had this to say about his
people. He said,
“There are only four types of officers. First,
there are the lazy, stupid ones” Now did he
suggest firing these people? Not at all. He
said, “Leave them alone. They do no harm.”
Because at least they are lazy. “Second,
there are the hard-working, intelligent
ones.” Now, they are good, obviously. They
make excellent staff officers ensuring that
every aspect of the plan is very carefully
considered. “And third, there are the hardworking,
stupid ones. Now, these people,”
he said, “are a menace. They must be fired
at once. They create irrelevant work for
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Results are what matter.

everybody. And finally, there the intelligent
lazy ones. Now, these people are suited for
the highest office.”
So the good general was suggesting that
whether you are smart or intelligent, it is
actually much better to be lazy. Is this a
silly paradox?
Visualize it. Do you think that Warren Buffet
is busy frantically crunching numbers at
his desk?
Do you think this is what Ruppert Murdoch
spends his time doing? Do you imagine
that Jim Clark does that?
In other words, it’s smart work that makes
the day.
It’s about results. It’s not about being busy
for the sake of being busy.
We need to ask ourselves the question: “Is
what I am doing bringing results?”
If yes, then we should be thinking of ways
to do more of what brings the results.
If the answer to this question is no, then we
should be thinking of how we can stop or
replace those activities altogether.
This is what the Pareto principle is all
about.
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MR PARETO.
THE PARETO PRINCIPLE is named after
an Italian economist called Vilfredo Pareto.
He realized that 20 percent of people owned
80 percent of the land in Italy in his time.
Then he started looking at the pea pods in
his gardens and discovered an interesting
principle.
Twenty percent of the pea pods were
yielding eighty percent of the peas.
And eighty percent of the peapods were
yielding only 20 percent of the peas.
Interestingly, not all the pea pods were
yielding the same number of peas.
So there was a fundamental disparity.
This is what the Pareto principle is about.
Not all things have equal value.
Some things that we do will yield more
significant results than others.
The Pareto principle is about finding out
what works.
So we can then focus on what works.
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And do more of it.
And focus less on what doesn’t work.
And do less of it.
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THINK FIRST.
IN OTHER WORDS, before we swing
into action and start doing something, we
should think.
First.
Time invested in thinking first is time spent
well.
Time invested in planning is time spent
that yields a very profitable return.
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TOOLS FOR THINKING.
THE PARETO PRINCIPLE provides us
with a valuable thinking tool.
Because it causes us to focus on results.
All our thinking out to be results-focused.
What matters is results.
Is what I am doing producing the results?
If it is, I need to try and further improve
whatever it is that I am doing.
But if it isn’t producing the results on the
level that I have envisioned, then perhaps
it is time to start doing things differently.
Perhaps it is time to do something different
altogether.
Something that produces result.
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The key is to
do more of
what works
and less of
what doesn’t
work.
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Working
smart brings
results.
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CONTENTS
WORKING HARD IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST THING
TO DO. 5
MR PARETO. 11
THINK FIRST. 15
TOOLS FOR THINKING. 17
1 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND
FAILURE IS THE STRATEGY. 25
2 KAIZEN. 31
3 THE WINNING EDGE. 33
4 THE TIPPING POINT. 35
5 PARETO ANALYSIS. 37
6 FOCUS ON THE ESSENTIALS. 39
7 WORK HALF, DOUBLE YOUR INCOME. 41
8 LESS IS MORE. 45
9 FOCUS ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT FIRST. 47
10 DISENTANGLE. 49
11 GOLDEN HOURS. 51
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12 BRAIN POWER. 53
CONCLUSION. 55
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1 THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN SUCCESS
AND FAILURE IS THE
STRATEGY.
FOR 2 YEARS, the owner of the coffee
shop, a lady in her late 40s, was struggling.
She tried everything.
Offer the students fresh sandwiches.
Egg tarts.
Fast food, like grilled pork on a stick
and glutenous rice that students could eat
between classes.
Trays of all types of finger foods.
Students would come into the shop, and
then they had to stand in a cue and wait
until she or one of her helpers had prepared
a drink.
It took ages.
The problem wasn’t with the location of
the shop.
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Her shop was located in a prime spot.
On the ground floor of the Faculty of
Humanities of Chiang Mai University.
The place was frequented with hundreds, if
not thousands of students daily.
Eventually, she had to close.
And other owners took over.
They restructured the coffee shop entirely
and turned it to be an outlet of drinks.
In the previous place, students could come
in and sit down.
But the new owners turned the place into a
takeaway shop.
So students could grab drinks on their way
to and from classes.
They didn’t offer any food, only some dry
food, like candies and cookies.
They also installed a cashier with a loud
ring tone.
Every time someone would purchase
something, the cashier would ring out, and
the sound could be heard from afar off.
Now the place is booming.
The owners are selling drinks like crazy.
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All you can hear when you get near to the
place is the constant ringing of the cashier.
What had changed?
The new owners came up with a unique
selling strategy.
One that worked.
And that made all the difference.
No amount of working hard could have
improved the first coffee shop.
The difference between failure and success
was the strategy.
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It’s all about the mindset.

2 KAIZEN.
KAIZEN means continual improvement.
According to the Pareto principle, a little
change can have significant effects.
In a business, for example, the rule is that
twenty percent of the customers generate
eighty percent of the income.
In other words, some customers generate a
disproportionate amount of revenue.
It will have disproportionate effects if you
can identify them and find ways to serve
them better.
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3 THE WINNING EDGE.
YOU DO NOT need to be much better
than other service providers.
You do not need to be hugely better than
others.
Being just a little bit better than others will
give you the winning edge.
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4 THE TIPPING POINT.
THE CONCEPT of the tipping point is
that if you have that little cutting edge over
your competitors—over time—things will
turn into your favor.
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5 PARETO ANALYSIS.
DOING a Pareto analysis means you are
trying to figure out what are the things that
make a real difference.
For example, there will be a few customers
in a business who will generate the majority
of the revenue.
This means that not all customers are the
same.
Focus on the customers that bring in the
most revenue,
Fin find out how you can serve them better.
This will have a more significant effect
than if you are trying to please all your
customers.
Or let’s say in the area of a relationship.
If you can find out what your partner likes
and then zoom in on those things, it will
have a disproportionately positive effect
on your relationship.
The same goes for all areas of life.
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I am faster than you!

6 FOCUS ON THE
ESSENTIALS.
THIS IS key.
Focus on the essentials first.
Before you do other things.
Let’s say you want to clean a room.
According to the Pareto principle, 20% of
the changes will cause 80% of the results.
So what are the key areas you could focus
on?
Which will have a significant effect.
Perhaps, you first need to get some large
objects in the room that only clutter the
place but do not add much to the ambiance?
In other words, focus on the essentials first.
You may also think that cleaning your
room may take you a lot of time.
Not if you do it intelligently.
According to Pareto, you can already
affect 80% of the changes in only 20% of
the time.
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7 WORK HALF, DOUBLE
YOUR INCOME.
IF YOU RUTHLESSLY evaluate what you
are doing, you will find that there is much
that you could improve on.
But before you are trying to improve on
anything, apply this framework to it.
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Do higher-level work
No
Can I delegate this task?
Yes
Delegate
No
Can I automate this task?
Yes
Automate
No
Can I simplify this task?
Yes
Simplify
Yes
Do I need to do this task?
No
Eliminate
What is / are my goal(s)?
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8 LESS IS MORE.
LET’S say you’d like to improve your
current relationship.
The answer to improving your relationship
may not be to spend more time with your
partner.
But to spend more quality time: a time
where you are entirely focused on each
other.
To facilitate that, perhaps you need to
put your mobile phones aside during the
quality time you spend with each other.
In that way, you can improve your
relationship significantly.
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9 FOCUS ON WHAT IS
IMPORTANT FIRST.
ONCE YOU HAVE figured out what are
the things that really make a difference in
your life, do the most important tasks first.
Before doing other less important task.
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10 DISENTANGLE.
ALMOST CERTAINLY, there will be
areas in your life where you will need to
disentangle.
Disentangle yourself from doing
unprofitable activities.
Activities that make you look busy, but
that are not productive.
Useless time-fillers and time wasters.
They are anathema to productivity.
But the point is this.
You can only know what not to do if you
have clearly defined goals.
Then you can come up with a to-do list.
But as importantly, come up with a
not-to-do list as well.
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11 GOLDEN HOURS.
NOT ALL HOURS of the day have equal
value.
The morning hours are the most valuable
hours of the day because that is when you
have the most energy.
The most mental power.
That’s when you are most focused.
Use those vital hours int he morning to
work on an important task.
Don’t waste it on social media.
Put your phone aside while you are working
on your most important task.
Don’t allow social media to fragment your
attention.
If you do, social media will kill your
productivity.
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12 BRAIN POWER.
BRAIN POWER, mental energy is a
limited commodity.
It depletes during the day.
Make the best use of your prime time, when
your brainpower is at its peak, to work on
essential tasks.
Do less important tasks when your
brainpower is already depleted.
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Think first!

CONCLUSION.
THE PARETO PRINCIPLE is a vital
success principle.
Success does not come from working
harder.
It comes from working smarter.
Before you are doing anything, you need to
ask yourself the question.
“Is it worth doing?”
“Is there another way, better way how this
can be done?”
“Do I need to do it at all?”
“Does it fit with my goals?”
“Is there a way to simplify it?”
“Is there a way to automate it?”
“Is there a way to delegate it?”
“How can I use my time wisely?”
“What is it that really gives me the results
that I am looking for?”
“How can I do more of what works and
less of what doesn’t work?”
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And so on.
The Pareto Principle is an immensely
valuable concept.
Use it, and you will see your life improve
on all levels.
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Why Less Is More—The Pareto Principle in a Nutshell:
How You Can Boost Your Productivity by Working
Less.
Copyright 2020 © Albert L. Oberdorfer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
author’s written permission.
PICTURE CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated, all images are courtesy
of Pexels.com and Pixabay.com. Any inadvertent
omissions can be rectified in future editions.
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