Kevin O'Leary Shares Steve Jobs' 3-Task Formula, Citing 80:20 Signal-to-Noise Focus
Updated
Updated · Fortune · Sep 8
Kevin O'Leary Shares Steve Jobs' 3-Task Formula, Citing 80:20 Signal-to-Noise Focus
3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Sep 8
Summary
Three daily priorities should come first, Kevin O'Leary said, describing Steve Jobs' rule that anything blocking those tasks is just "noise."
An 80:20 signal-to-noise ratio defined Jobs' approach, O'Leary said, arguing top business leaders tune out emails, small talk and other distractions to protect focus.
Elon Musk fits the same pattern, O'Leary added, recalling that Musk would walk away from conversations he saw as wasting time.
O'Leary traced the mindset to working with Jobs in the 1990s at SoftKey, later sold to Mattel for $3.7 billion in 1999, and said it shaped his own investing and leadership style.