Richard Koch Quotes

You have to ruthlessly prioritize.

Focus on doing the right things instead of a bunch of things.

Efficiency, which is doing things right, is irrelevant until you work on the right things.

Our focus was directed at developing the best possible and easiest to use product, and this is where we invested our time. Realize that you won't be able to bring the same focus to everything in the beginning. There won't be enough people or enough hours in the day. So, focus on the 20 percent that makes 80 percent of the difference.

Concentration is the key to economic results. No other principle of effectiveness is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration.... Our motto seems to be, "Let's do a little bit of everything."

The primary reason we do too much is that we have never taken the time to discover that portion of what we do that makes the biggest difference.

The Pertinent Question is NOT how to do things right - but how to find the right things to do, and to concentrate resources and efforts on them.

I learned the value of focus. I learned it is better to do one product well than two products in a mediocre way.

Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.

He that pursues two hares at once, does not catch one and lets the other go.

Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.

We value the clock for its speed and efficiency. The clock has its place, efficiency has its place, after effectiveness. The symbol of effectiveness is the compass a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. But the empowerment process itself is not efficient.

The weakest living creature, by concentrating his powers on a single object, can accomplish good results while the strongest, by dispersing his effort over many chores, may fail to accomplish anything.

It's incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy - very busy - without being very effective.

What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life? Quadrant II activities have that kind of impact. Our effectiveness takes quantum leaps when we do them.

Don't confuse activity with productivity. Many people are simply busy being busy.

Focus on essentials and try not to get distracted and bogged down by things that don't add value to the bottom line.

Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.

You must elect your work; you shall take what your brains can, and drop all the rest. Only so can that amount of vital force accumulate which can make the step from knowing to doing. No matter how much faculty of idle seeing a man has, the step from knowing to doing is rarely taken. It is a step out of a chalk circle of imbecility into fruitfulness.

If there is any one secret of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time.

The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.

You can get control of your tasks and activities only to the degree that you stop doing some things and start spending more time on the few activities that can really make a difference in your life.

Where we focus our energy is where we will get the results.

If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most important problems.

We are the most focused company that I know of or have read of or have any knowledge of. We say no to good ideas every day. We say no to great ideas in order to keep the amount of things we focus on very small in number so that we can put enormous energy behind the ones we do choose.....It's not just saying yes to the right products, it's saying no to many products that are good ideas, but just not nearly as good as the other ones.