The Ivy Lee Method: When Productivity Is Measured in Dollars

That’s what Charles Schwab paid for this advice. Well, actually he paid $25,000, but that was in 1918, and you know how it goes—100 years, inflation, compound interest.

Okay. For authenticity’s sake, let’s recreate the whole deal.

On one side: Ivy Lee. Founding father of modern PR. The reason we know that Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and Elon Musk tweets at 3 AM. On the other side: Charles Schwab. Industrial titan who, naturally, wants to be even more industrial and more titan-y. So he asks Ivy Lee how to shake things up at Bethlehem Steel Corporation, his steel manufacturing and shipbuilding operation. Ivy Lee requests 15 minutes with each manager. He gives them all the same advice, which consists of (here’s where it gets mystical)...

6 steps: 

1. Clearly define your vision across all areas of life—business, health, family, etc.
2. Each evening, write down exactly six tasks for the next day that will help you achieve your vision.
3. Prioritize these six tasks in order of importance.
4. Each morning, start with the most important task on your list and don’t move to the next task until you’ve completed the previous one.
5. If you don’t finish all your tasks by day’s end, move them to a new list of six tasks for the next day.
6. Repeat this entire process every day.

Why six? Six days of creation, six-pointed star, six directions in space: up, down, forward, back, left, right. You feel it? Smells like cheap snake oil. That’s why when Charles Schwab asked, “So how much do I owe you for this?” Ivy Lee replied, “Nothing. Try it for three months, see how it works, then decide for yourself what it’s worth and send me a check.”

Schwab tried it. Three months later, he sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000. Shortly after, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel producer in America and the largest shipbuilder, and Charles Schwab himself accumulated a personal fortune exceeding $200 million.

Here’s the thing: whatever makes the Ivy Lee Method work, it’s definitely not the magic number 6. Tim Ferriss follows the Ivy Lee Method but plans 3 tasks instead of 6. Try telling that guy he’s unproductive.

Oh, and one more thing. Charles Schwab went bankrupt and died in 1939 with $300,000 in debt. We just thought you should know.