Bill Canady argues that business reports fail when they stop at data without driving action. He uses a 1960s "Muffin Memo" to show how most reports miss the point, then introduces the 80/20 Operating System: a framework for turning measurements into concrete improvement through a simple rule: "If you want tomorrow to be different from today, do something different today."
Hello everyone, I'm Bill Kennedy, the 80/20 CEO. It's great to be with you today. I thought we'd take some time to talk about measuring only to improve. Business has been awash in reports longer than most of us been in business, or candidly, even alive. I was amused to discover that one Edwin Noll, a Washington Post journalist who became the editor of The Progressive, a left-leaning journal founded by Senator Robert N. La Follette Sr. in 1909 noted that in the 1960s that the New York City's Department of Mental Hygiene produced and distributed a 3-page illustrated memorandum on how to split an English muffin. I bet there were loads of measurements in that report, and reports have a lot of measurements and can be useful. But in fact, a good report starts with the key measurements. There are the basic data required to understand most things, especially in business. The problem with a great many reports, however, is that they fail to go beyond the measurements. To be useful, a report must begin with the data, the objective measurements, but must then conclude by applying those measurements, the data, to improvement. In fact, I'm not going to condemn the Muffin Memo. I honestly haven't read it for myself, but for all I know, it concludes by telling you how to split a muffin to perfectly optimize its flavor. If that's the case, the Muffin Memo deserves To stand as one of the great memos in history, and I hope someone finds it and republishes it. My point is, is that most reports had their objective transforming data into improvement, very few people would complain about being buried under too many reports. In fact, the majority would clamor for more. That's why I love the 80/20 principle and want everyone to share my love for it. 80/20 is all about turning data into improvement. So, I'm going to repeat my simple rule for ensuring continuous improvement. If you want tomorrow to be different from today, Do something different today. The question is, what should that something be? The answer is found by applying 80/20. It shows you precisely what to do different. I want to thank you for your time to learn more about PGOS, the 80/20 Operating System. And remember, together we will fly.
