Fellow Entrepreneurs
We are building something truly remarkable that will long outlast us! The technologies and innovations you create and the way in which you engage those around you is making the world safer, healthier and more productive each day. You’re doing this by creating entrepreneurial safe havens with a bias for action in an environment of trust. But growth brings with it complexity which, paradoxically, makes continued growth harder to achieve and sustain. Enter 80/20…
80/20 is first and foremost a thinking process that challenges us to focus on the critical few things as opposed to the trivial many. We spent several years considering a variety of performance systems to really get our flywheel spinning. We focused that search on systems that would help us further our culture and maintain our decentralized, entrepreneurial operating model. While there are many systems out there, 80/20 stood out for its ability to accelerate growth across a diverse set of businesses in the most entrepreneurial way possible. Interestingly, we found the 80/20 model aligned with who we are and how we naturally think. Who wouldn’t want more time to focus on the best ways to create more of our mission?!
80/20 is not a strict rule set or construct but rather a resource that allows us to achieve remarkable outcomes. You must decide what is best for your business. At Madison, we will continue to place immense trust in the entrepreneurs leading our businesses in leveraging the right 80/20 tools and methods to deliver the outcomes we’re after everywhere — a fanatical focus on the customer, front-line obsession and market-leading innovation — that ultimately helps us create cash, invest right and deliver more mission in more places that matter.
Throughout the many incredible, diverse ways that our entrepreneurs will use 80/20, there are six shared principles that will be evident in every 80/20 journey. This book describes those principles, shares the stories from across Madison in how those principles and some of the enabling tools were brought to life and provides the basis to begin to understand 80/20 and what it means to have an 80/20 mindset at Madison.
Please realize though, there is no book that can teach you 80/20. It must be learned, applied, mistakes made, and resulting pivots taken which will lead to more learning and new applications. As you work through our performance system with your teams, implement what makes the most sense first. Celebrate the small victories and raise the bar to push your organization even further! This is how our mission and culture will last the test of time. Together, let’s make the world safer, healthier and more productive!
We have your Back,
Larry Gies, Rob Carpio and JJ Foley