Charles M. Schwab, the great steel magnate, had granted an interview to an efficiency expert named Ivy Lee. Lee was telling his prospective client how Lee’s firm could help him do a better job of managing the company, when Mr. Schwab broke in to say something to the effect that he wasn’t at present managing as well as he could. He said “We know what we could be doing; now if you can show us a better way if getting it done, I’ll listen to you- and pay you anything within reason you ask.”
Lee told Schwab that he could give him something in twenty minutes that would increase effectiveness by at least fifty percent. He handed Schwab a blank sheet of paper and said “Write down the six most important things you have to do tomorrow.”
Schwab thought about it and did as requested. It took him about three minutes. Lee then said, “Now number them in order of their importance to you and to the company.” That took about five more minutes. Then Lee said “Put the paper in your pocket, and first thing tomorrow morning, take it out and look at item number one. Don’t worry if you only finished one or two. You’ll be working on the most important ones. The others can wait. If you can’t finish them by this method, you could not have finished them by any other method. And without some system, you’d probably take ten times as long to finish them- and probably wouldn’t have finished them in the order of their importance.
“Do this every working day,” Lee went on. “After you’ve convinced yourself of the value of this system, have all your executives, managers, supervisors and foremen try it. Try it as long as you like, and then send me a check for whatever you think the idea is worth.”
Mr. Schwab sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000 which adjusted for growth and inflation would be well more than $200,000 today. He stated it was the most profitable lesson he had learned in his life.
Lee told Schwab that he could give him something in twenty minutes that would increase effectiveness by at least fifty percent. He handed Schwab a blank sheet of paper and said “Write down the six most important things you have to do tomorrow.”
Schwab thought about it and did as requested. It took him about three minutes. Lee then said, “Now number them in order of their importance to you and to the company.” That took about five more minutes. Then Lee said “Put the paper in your pocket, and first thing tomorrow morning, take it out and look at item number one. Don’t worry if you only finished one or two. You’ll be working on the most important ones. The others can wait. If you can’t finish them by this method, you could not have finished them by any other method. And without some system, you’d probably take ten times as long to finish them- and probably wouldn’t have finished them in the order of their importance.
“Do this every working day,” Lee went on. “After you’ve convinced yourself of the value of this system, have all your executives, managers, supervisors and foremen try it. Try it as long as you like, and then send me a check for whatever you think the idea is worth.”
Mr. Schwab sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000 which adjusted for growth and inflation would be well more than $200,000 today. He stated it was the most profitable lesson he had learned in his life.