8 minute read
Personal & Finance
When it comes to making improvements small, incremental gains really do add up. So says Je Haden who introduces us, this time out, to the one percent rule!
It's really hard to make massive gains in skill and performance and talent, especially overnight. But it's fairly easy to make small changes every day.
Advertisement
Winning
That was the approach taken in 2009 by Sir Dave Brailsford, who said he could build Britain's first-ever Tour de France winning team in four years with a three-pronged approach.
One core element was strategy. Another was human performance – obviously on the bike, but also in terms of leveraging behavioural psychology and optimising the ‘work’ environment.
The third was continuous improvement, or what Brailsford called the ‘aggregate of marginal gains’.
His plan was to break down each individual component that could go into making a world-class cyclist and cycling team, and improve each of those elements by 1 percent.
Not 20 percent. Or 10 percent. Or even 5 percent.
Just 1 percent.
Progression
In short? Think small, not big. Think progression, not perfection. Think small improvements to create a major improvement.
As Brailsford said:
By experimenting in a wind tunnel, we searched for small improvements to aerodynamics.
By analyzing the mechanic's area in the team truck, we discovered that dust was accumulating on the floor, undermining bike maintenance.
So we painted the floor white, in order to spot any impurities.
We hired a surgeon to teach our athletes about proper hand-washing
Why brilliant leadership minds embrace the rule of 1 percent
Make a major improvement by leveraging lots of small, easy wins
so as to avoid illnesses during competition.
We were precise about food preparation. We brought our own mattresses and pillows so our athletes could sleep in the same posture every night.
We searched for small improvements everywhere and found countless opportunities. Taken together, we felt they gave us a competitive advantage.
Won
Three years later, Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France (and an Olympic gold medal). Chris Froome won the Tour de France in three of the next four years.
In spite of the fact the team initially ignored core functions to focus on peripheral functions.
‘You have to identify the critical success factors and ensure they are in place,’ he said, ‘and then focus your improvements around them. That was a harsh lesson’.
Like focusing on making small improvements to operational e ciencies when sales don't even cover fixed costs.
Or focusing on making small improvements to logistics and fulfilment when product quality consistently fails to meet standard.
The rule of 1 percent and you
Start by focusing on tasks you frequently perform.
Sure, you may make an improvement that saves only 10 seconds, but if you perform that task dozens of times a day, the aggregate gain is considerable.
Maybe that means finding ways to incrementally improve how you manage your email.
Or incrementally improve your use of online collaboration platforms.
Or incrementally improve – better yet, automate – making recurring decisions.
Or incrementally improve how you run meetings. (Here's a not-soincremental improvement tip: Start by having many fewer meetings.)
Break down the component parts of any larger task or pursuit. Then make small but meaningful improvements to each of those parts.
That way you don't have to get a lot better at one big thing.
You can just get a tiny bit better at a whole lot of little things.
And so can your team.
The rule of 1 percent and your team
As Brailfsord noted, seeking incremental gains quickly became contagious.
‘There's something inherently rewarding about identifying marginal gains’, Brailsford said.
‘People want to identify opportunities and share them with the group. Our team became a very positive place to be.’
Partly that's because we all want to feel we are a meaningful part of something bigger than ourselves, and that our contributions are valued.
However small, the more contributions you can make the more valued you can feel.
But the contagious nature – in a good way – of embracing the rule of 1 percent also taps into a powerful aspect of motivation.
Improvement feels good. Improvement is fulfilling.
Motivation
Fulfilment provides the motivation to seek further improvement. The result is an endless cycle of e ort, success, fulfilment, motivation, e ort, success.
Increase sales by 20 percent?
For some companies, that's a goal that might take months or years to accomplish.
But finding a way to improve the CRM data entry accuracy might take only minutes.
Finding a way to improve RFP turnaround times might take only minutes.
Finding a way to improve the speed and quality of responses to certain types of customer inquiries might take only minutes.
Yet the gains can last forever.
And, when aggregated with all the other 1 percent improvements you make, could make a substantial di erence for your business.
And for you.
The opinions expressed here by Inc. com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
@JEFF_HADEN
Radley Engineering Limited
Radley Engineering Limited is one of Europe’s leading specialists in the design, manufacture and installation of high quality steel fabrications in stainless steel, carbon steel and exotic materials. We provide our services to a range of industries including the Pharma & BioPharma, Oil & Gas, Industrial Manufacturing and Power Generation & Utilities in both Ireland and internationally.
Radley Engineering Limited Killadangan, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Ireland Tel: +353 (0)58 41199 Web: www.radleyeng.com
The Competition & Consumer Protection Commission has been liaising with us again on a number of useful and informative pieces for our Personal and Finance section. First off we go back to basics with a special piece from their spokesperson, Doireann Sweeney, Head of Corporate Communications, on spring cleaning (or early-summer cleaning!) your finances.
A step-by-step guide to managing your personal finances
Knowing where to start when it comes to taking control of your personal finances can be difficult.
Task
From how to make a household budget, to picking the right savings accounts for you, money management can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task.
To help you through the steps you can take to get your finances in order, Doireann Sweeney has these top tips to get you started:
Start budgeting: taking the first step toward sorting your personal finances can be scary, especially if you’re not sure where to begin.
One of the simplest ways to start managing your money better is to create a household budget.
To help you get started, the CCPC’s budget planner at ccpc.ie is an easy online tool that, with only a few clicks, will show you all your regular income and expenses.
Cutting costs: Has your daily coffee fix become a twice daily fix? Are you a regular online shopper?
To show you what you are spending every month on items that you might not really think about, or budget for, the CCPC has a handy spending calculator.
This will help you figure out where you can cut back, and what you can cut out, to help you save a little extra.
Make a savings plan: Once you’ve established how much you can afford to save, you might consider setting up a savings account.
There is a better chance that you will keep to your savings plan if you have a separate savings account and set up a monthly direct debit.
In addition, savings accounts usually offer higher annual interest rates than a current account.
The CCPC’s savings Money Tool will help you compare interest rates as well as other benefits on savings accounts from all the main financial providers.
Limit your credit card spending: Try not to use your credit card to cover your day-to-day expenses unless you can pay your credit card bill in full regularly e.g. on a monthly basis.
The temptation can be to only pay off the minimum balance on your credit card each month, which will cost you a lot in interest and could take several years for you to pay off a large balance.
Manage credit card debt: Start by figuring out how much you can pay each month. It is important that you pay as much as you can afford, and not just the minimum repayment.
Paying more than the minimum repayment, by even a small amount, will reduce the time it takes you to clear your debt and will save you money in interest. The CCPC has a free credit card calculator, available at ccpc.ie, to show you how long it will take you to clear your debt.
For example: If you have credit card debt of €1,000 and the interest – known as APR – on your card is 17%, it will take you two years to clear your debt if you pay off €50 a month and you stop using the card completely.
It will also show how, if you increase your repayments to €100 per month, you could clear your balance in eleven months.
So, the debt is paid off thirteen months earlier and you save in interest repayments.
Check out if switching could save you money: Have you checked to see if you are availing of the best interest rates and benefits on the market when it comes to your current account, savings account and mortgage?
If not, it could pay to switch. Check out the CCPC’s credit card comparison tool at ccpc.ie to see what’s on offer across all the main financial providers, with only a few simple clicks!
ccpc.ie
Has your daily coffee fix become a twice daily fix? are you a regular online sHopper? to sHow you wHat you are spending every montH on items tHat you migHt not really tHink about, or budget for, tHe ccpc Has a Handy spending calculator.
