the aggregation of marginal gains

In 2003, if you were to consider British cycling, the prevailing thought was likely a resounding ‘meh’. In 2003, no British cyclist had ever won, or realistically come close to the Tour de France, and there had been only 1 Olympic Gold since 1908. However, in 2003, everything was about to change.

Ian Brailsford was brought in by British cycling as the new performance director, and what he did revolutionised British cycling forever. Ian Brailsford was a proponent of a strategy he called “the aggregation of marginal gains”, which, in brief, is about finding 1% improvements everywhere rather than a 100% improvement somewhere.

What happened next was quite incredible. Standard changes were made, more comfortable saddles, rubbing alcohol onto the tyres for better grip. They regulated and monitored riders’ body temperature while training particular workouts and adjusted to suit the biochemistry of the individual. They tested the aerodynamic qualities of different clothing, all fairly standard?

Then it got intense.

Testing began on different massage gels to find the optimum one for recovery. Every trailer was painted white on the inside to better identify dust and get rid of it so it did not interfere with the bikes. Consultants were brought in to teach the team how to better wash their hands, to reduce the risk of infections and time off training. Mattresses, pillows, you name it, it was changed. And what happened after all that? In 2008, British cycling won 60% of the gold medals available, 60%. 4 years later, they set 9 Olympic records and 7 world records. British cyclists won the Tour de France in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

I first read about this in James Clears ‘Atomic Habits’ (an excellent read if you have not already), but where it is geared there at the person, I wanted to reflect on where it applies to business.

We talk all day about process, efficiency, cost, and profit, but quite often we are considering the big win, the hail Mary, the winning lottery ticket. What we should focus on is the marginal gain, the additive, little win. 

Your energy usage, can we shape that down 5%? Of course, if we can save 20 we will, but let's start there. Your workflows, how much of it is manual? 30%, 40%? Can we take half of those, and automate workflows? How much time does THAT save? Are your machines idle or powered off at night? How much power does that draw? Are you pulling reports together from here, there, and everywhere? What if they were EXACTLY what you needed to see, without collation, and automated? How much does THAT save? Being able to pull a full audit trail for every maintenance job when required from one place? What if something is not working right, too hot, too cold, what if as soon as that happened the team who could fix it knew about it? How much downtime does that save?

Now, all those little wins, add them up. THAT is the aggregation of marginal gains for you, when you add up every step you can reduce, every automation you can deliver, every time you can look AT something rather than FOR something, those are the efficiencies that keep you ahead. They drive your profit, they reduce your overheads, and they improve your position both versus your competition but also in the eyes of your customers. Little wins, every day, change your business exponentially.