Peter Philippi, Strategex's Founder and Chairman of the Board is interviewed by Forbes about Strategex's sucessful 80/20 Profit & Growth practice. The article is a great third party perspective on Peter, Strategex, and the power of 80/20.

An excerpt from the article:

Growing yourself into profitability is a flawed strategy. Many established businesses, whether or not they are focused on the 80/20 rule, attempt to grow themselves into profitability, convincing themselves that they just need to get over an overhead hump. We’ve made this mistake. However, adding sales, products, customers, employees and expanded capabilities doesn’t change the underlying situation: A minority of your customers are responsible for the vast majority of your profitability.

Cutting your way to profitability won’t work either. On the flip side, simply getting leaner is an equally ineffective strategy when implemented without an underlying understanding of where and why your resources are being used. You’ll just wind up cutting your muscle along with your fat.

It’s hard to implement. According to Peter, “Business leaders who have heard about the 80/20 rule often botch the process because they get started and then stop because of internal objections. ‘We need a complete product line,’ ‘We need to absorb our fixed costs,’ and a long list of other excuses. When the going gets tough (as it always does), that’s when people give up on 80/20. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t grow, or that you shouldn’t reduce waste. Rather, I do suggest leaders focus their limited resources in the areas that offer the greatest return, and improve overall profitability—sensibly, incrementally and without alienating your most important customers and people.”

Read The Forbes Article