Marginal Gains

“I have difficulty sometimes talking to people who don’t race sailboats.” This line, from one of my all-time favorite TV shows, The West Wing, comes from campaign strategist, Bruno Gianelli, when he’s having a pointed discussion with President Bartlet about his reelection campaign strategy. Bruno goes on to say, “… if you think that I’m going to miss even one opportunity to pick-up half a knot of boat speed, you’re absolutely out of your mind.”

As both a business consultant and a sailboat racer, that line has always stuck with me. It captures the essence of what makes a truly healthy business. This is what our work at Motus is all about: making lots of small improvements, each one adding “half a knot of boat speed.”

Consider that every “good” business has gotten where they are by doing some big things right. They wouldn’t have survived the startup phase otherwise. But how do good businesses become extraordinary businesses?

To begin with, it takes a shift in mindset from fixing problems or settling for “good enough,” to seeking excellence in every part of the business. The process of making continual, minor improvements across every aspect of an operation, which aggregate into significant overall enhancements, is referred to as marginal gains.

To illustrate marginal gains in action, take a look at Formula 1 racing. In a race between twenty of the fastest cars in the world, the difference between first place and last place might only be two seconds per lap. There is absolutely no one or two things that makes the difference between two seconds. But if every aspect of the design, engineering, setup, and driving can be improved by a fraction of a percent, they will be a winning team. And the team that can do this continually, day after day, month after month, is the one that will win the world championship.

This mentality of marginal gains is the driving philosophy and common denominator of exceptional people everywhere, regardless of whether they’re a Formula 1 team boss, a gold-medal athlete, a groundbreaking biochemist, or the CEO of an innovative corporation. These people don’t settle for “good enough” or wait for a problem to arise before fixing it; they live with a proactive desire to be continually seeking improvement in all aspects of their life and work.

It surprises some of our clients that we dive straight into seemingly insignificant nuances of their operation to address the problems that bring them in our door. However, once they understand that even “big” problems are usually a cumulative symptom of many small factors, they are grateful for our dedication to helping them make meaningful and lasting change through marginal gains. This only makes sense, since most entrepreneurs and healthcare practitioners are in pursuit of a truly healthy business.