The Power of Marginal Gains - (1% Improvements)

The Power of Marginal Gains - (1% Improvements)

How did a team that had top level success in only 1 year out of 76 years go on to become a dominant force , achieving success over multiple years ? The team is British Cycling and the coach that turned things around was Sir Dave Brailsford who became head of British Cycling in 2002.

And what a turnaround it has been:

• At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his teams won 7 out of 10 gold medals.

• Britain’s professional cycling team has won 3 of the last 4 Tour de France events.

• During the ten-year period from 2007 to 2017, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured 5 Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.

So how did Sir Dave utilize the theory of marginal gains while working with the teams to achieve success ? He was committed to a strategy that he referred to as “the aggregation of marginal gains,” which entailed searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do. Brailsford said, “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.” Two examples were rubbing alcohol on the tires for increased grip, and painting the inside of the bike trailers white, so any dirt or debris that could damage the bikes was readily visible.

He focused on 3 major principles:

1. Strategy - Look at the demand (requirements) for an event & what it would take to win.

2. Human performance- how to create an environment for optimum performance.

3. Continuous improvement.

Improving by 1 percent sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. According to author James Clear- "The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done."

So how can one apply these principles to your everyday work as a team member on a project?

While you and your team may not win gold medals, everyone has the ability to continually improve in small steps everyday, so that over time the results are quite noticeable. An additional benefit is that you sustain these gains and are operating from a higher level. As the teams start to experience greater success, the sense of team spirit will kick in and this often enables even higher performance levels.