The story goes that in 1918, a steel company president once met with efficiency expert Ivy Lee, skeptical about needing more advice. “We already know what to do,” he said. “We need better execution.” Lee promised a solution that would boost productivity by 50% and handed the president a blank sheet of paper.
“Write down the six most important tasks for tomorrow,” Lee instructed. The president complied. Then Lee added, “Now, rank them by importance.” Once done, Lee explained, “Tomorrow, focus on task one until it’s complete. Then move to task two, and so on. If you don’t finish all six, it’s okay—they’re prioritized. Use this method daily and share it with your team once convinced of its value. Pay me what you think it’s worth.”
Weeks later, the president sent Lee $25,000, declaring it the most profitable advice he’d ever received. This simple method of tackling tasks in priority order helped transform his company into a major steel industry leader.
Here is the link to read the entire article from Earl Nightingale: https://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-25000-idea/
