Aggregation of Marginal Gains

Yesterday, I mentioned that we overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of sustained small changes on a daily basis. 

Every habit that we have is the result of these actions that seemed small and irrelevant on a daily basis but over a period of time had large impact on our life. However, we easily forget this when we want to make a change. 

We feel that change is meaningful only if some large, tangible outcome is associated with it. We try to achieve phenomenal improvements in a short time. And we do not give importance to small changes or improvements because those are not immediately noticeable. But, in the long run, these small changes add up to the big thing we are looking for.

One would usually not notice any difference between a choice that is 1% better or worse. But with time these small changes compound and show noticeable changes. For example, eating a burger and an ice cream daily will not make us fat in a day but will certainly add up slowly and show on our bodies.

I would now like to introduce the concept of "Aggregation of Marginal Gains", used by Dave Brailsford. In 2010 as the new General Manager and Performance Director for Team Sky (Great Britain’s professional cycling team), he had a tough job. No British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France and he was asked to change that.

He applied the above principle and explained it as, "The 1 percent margin for improvement in everything you do.” He believed that if you improved every area related to cycling by just 1 percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. 

They started by optimizing not only the obvious but also the tiny unseen areas; searching for 1% improvements everywhere. Brailsford believed that by successfully executing this principle, they will be able to win the race in five years. To his own surprise, they did it in three years. The same year (2012), the team won 70% of medals in Olympics and in 2013, Team Sky won Tour de France again; this time with another rider.

This concept is useful in our daily lives too. Most of us look at success as an event, whereas, it is sum of all the moments when we chose to do things 1 percent better or 1 percent worse. Aggregating these marginal gains makes a difference. Small changes are sustainable and small wins and slow gains make all the difference.

Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. - Jim Rohn

PS : As brought out by James Clear, it is important to set schedule for important things. He follows the "never miss twice" rule, wherein he understands that missing once is alright but missing twice means losing discipline and letting things go out of control.