Wow!  It seems like I spend ALL my time dealing with these 3 wheels!  I love the idea of 80/20 in particular, letting people spend 20% of their time on pet projects.  As for the noisy customer (in my case parents) it's really hard to turn that off.  I also know that 90% of employee issues are caused by 10% of employees.  It's a tricky balancing act, one I continue to work on...

Thanks for the thoughtful post.