The 80% Approach

by Dan Sullivan

Taking all of the resources in your personal and work life to higher levels of productivity.

Genres: Business, Productivity, Personal Development, Nonfiction

49 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Dan has over 35 years’ experience as a highly regarded speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to entrepreneurial individuals and groups.

He is author of over 40 publications, including The Wall Street Journal Bestseller: Who Not How, The Great Crossover, The 21st Century Agent, Creative Destruction, and How The Best Get Better®. He is co-author of The Laws of Lifetime Growth and The Advisor Century.

Dan is married to Babs Smith, his partner in business and in life. They jointly own and operate The Strategic Coach Inc., with offices in Toronto, Chicago, and the U.K. New workshops are also being held in Los Angeles and Vancouver. Dan and Babs reside in Toronto.

Reviews

[Mario Tomic · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've read so far on overcoming perfectionism and procrastination. The big idea of the book is that no matter how much you prepare for a task you're most likely to get it 80% done anyway because as you do the task you'll find new ideas how to improve it. It's really a great concept. The book was recommended to me recently by a very successful entrepreneur and I'm glad I've read it. Another thing, it's only about 40 pages and free to download so there's really no excuse not to go through this material. Highly recommended!

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than anyone I've read, Dan explains the debilitating affects of procrastination on one's confidence, and how an obsession with perfection leads to perpetual dissatisfaction. If there is a downside it is only that the solutions that Dan offers to better faster results are so simple and become so obvious after reading them that it's possible many will discount and ignore the message.

[Paul Bard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of a long blog entry with one idea and lots of reasons for it. I’ve no idea how or when it ended up on my kindle.

Basic idea: entrepreneurs eschew both procrastination and perfectionism by completing 80% of a project.

Huh then.

So be a C+ student. Be good-enough. You may as well, because you get the same results anyway.

That’s it.

[EC]

my dad made me read this.

[Christina Zugno · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay.

I love a straightforward short read, and this is very much that. My main issue with this book is it's pretty repetitive on the 80% approach and it's uses. It discusses procrastination and perfectionism in a very pessimistic lens and reepeats how the 80% principle is a solution to all human problems. That's a pretty big claim.

That being said I do understand the fundemental idea behind this. Your 80% will be precieved as 100% to others is very true. It's the idea that by just executing a project, even if you know it won't be perfect, is better then not starting at all.

I aalso totally agree with the notion that focusing on 100% does lead to burn out and mental fatigue in the long run - even leading down a road of lack of self-confidence on ones ability. Overall the principle itself is great.

I just wish there was more explanation into what the 80% principle is and what the extra 80% after 80% is. That concept could be flushed out a bit more for readers to fully grasp.

[Muwaffaq Salti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very short book. Nothing wrong with that. His approach to moving fast and aiming for 80 per cent of your goal or project is essentially a psychological trick to get you to take action without making perfect plans and wasting time on perfect strategy. It is a very good and easy system indeed and I do think it will make a tremendous difference to people who are in the habit of procrastinating. Learning by doing is the fastest way to success IMO and this is a learning by doing strategy. Initially I was going to give it 4 stars as it is such a simple concept and the book is so short, but given the amount of self-help books that I read that are incredibly long winded and repetitive and are not imparting large volumes of wisdom to match their length, I decided that brevity and simplicity were a virtue worthy of 5 stars.

[Mark Manderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 80% diagram shows our first attempt at anything yields roughly 80% good enough no matter how hard we try so this helps us eliminate perfectionism. 

Therefore do the first run of 80% as quickly as possible as most often its good enough. 

If need another 80% run on the project then look to execute quickly! 
THIS SECOND RUN TAKES US FROM 80% TO 96% QUALITY! 
2 MENTAL HABITS THAT PARALYZE:
Perfectionism (unable to make decision and commit). 
Procrastination (refusal to take action until ideal is guaranteed). 

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick help for chronic perfectionists

Very short book that covers the material very effectively.

It provides a quick, incisive framework to help unblock you from perfectionism and procrastination.

I do think it over-reaches a bit in parts. And sometimes the author makes it seem like the concept will revolutionize humanity.

But in the whole, it's well worth the read. Highly recommend.

[Fanni Melles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 80% approach is very useful and I personally need to work on my own - being a perfectionist and, eventually, a procrastinator. Thank you very much for summarising the concept and its advantages, I really needed this!

[Christopher Armani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to read once every six months. Simple concepts, yet in the midst of perfectionism and procrastination it's so easy to forget the answer is embodied in a single word: start.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

first audiobook :)

[Demetrius]

Terrific, challenging, insightful, and seemingly life-changing :)

[Marcelo Campos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não li ainda!

[Zsombor Zsuffa · Rating 5 out of 5]

By reading this book it is the shortest time you can bring an tremendous improvement in your efficiency.

[Nancy Handler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing!

[Jose Amezcua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short book. 80% is good enough. Stop thinking and take action! Forget perfection! Start now!!!