Three-Tier People Assessment

Warren Buffett's framework for assessing and categorizing people, focused on identifying exceptional individuals while being selective with relationships.

Core Philosophy

• Be a harsh grader of people
• Focus energy on exceptional relationships
• Treat unknown people same as those to avoid
• Quality of relationships impacts personal growth
• Gravitational pull principle: You become like those you associate with

The 100 Person Framework

• In a room of 100 people with 5-10 minutes each:
  • 3-4 people are exceptional - bring into inner circle
  • 3-4 people to completely avoid
  • Remaining 92 people - treat as unknown/avoid
• Don't worry about missing good people in the 92
  • Infinite supply of good humans
  • No penalty for excluding potentially good people
  • High cost for including wrong people

Implementation Strategy

• Identify the exceptional few quickly
• Build deep relationships with proven exceptional people
• Avoid loyalty traps with mediocre relationships
• Be willing to be "unfair" by excluding unknowns
• Focus time/energy on highest quality relationships
• Let go of relationships that don't serve growth

Key Principles

• Loyalties often get in way of good judgment
• Substandard relationships create many "drains"
• Better to have few exceptional relationships than many mediocre ones
• Look for "givers" vs "takers" or "matchers"
• Success comes from associating with people better than yourself

Benefits

• Raises personal standards
• Creates upward trajectory
• Minimizes negative influences
• More efficient use of time/energy
• Better outcomes through quality relationships

The framework emphasizes being highly selective with relationships while focusing energy on exceptional people who drive growth and success.