The 1% advantage: How small improvements can revolutionise your L&D strategy  

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Using the marginal gains approach, small tweaks in L&D can add up to big results. Houra Amin shows you how to make it happen

The business landscape today is choppy and fast, so organisations are constantly seeking ways to enhance their competitive advantage. While everyone is trying hard to stay ahead of the curve, it’s tempting to follow the big and shiny solutions – thinking the bigger and more expensive they are, the greater impact they will have. This is a common assumption that is not only wrong but can also hinder progress and growth. 

A 1% margin might seem insignificant, but small improvements can accumulate significantly over time  

This article argues against the “bigger is better” mindset and explores the power of marginal gains – small, consistent improvements – that can lead to surprisingly large impacts. 

Small changes can produce big results 

The philosophy of marginal gains was popularised by the cycling mastermind Dave Brailsford and proved highly effective and sustainable in practice across various fields. Whether on a sports team or in the workplace, valuing change in small increments can help individuals and organisations get to the top and maintain their position.  

When Dave Brailsford was appointed the Performance Director of British Cycling, the team was struggling. The top of the mountain seemed too far away to reach. He introduced the marginal gains approach thinking if they broke down everything that could impact riding a bike and improved each by 1%, they would have a significantly better performance when they put them all together. These included everything from tyre pressure to nutrition, sleep quality, warm-up routines, cool-down routines, mental focus and hydration levels. This strategy led to a historic performance at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where British cyclists won two gold medals – their best finish since 1908.  

Marginal gains aren’t limited to sport, Rory Sutherland for example advocates for every corporation to appoint a Chief Detail Officer to ensure the small, often overlooked, elements receive the attention they deserve.  

A 1% margin might seem insignificant, but small improvements can accumulate significantly over time. As time goes on, there will be a substantial gap between people/businesses who consistently make slightly better decisions and those who don’t.  

How to apply in L&D 

One of the challenges of L&D leaders that we hear time and time again is showing the L&D value and positioning L&D as trusted advisers to business. It may sometimes feel overwhelming but by focusing on small changes, L&D leaders can test, learn and iterate different elements without facing significant risks. 

One thing we can learn from Dave Brailsford is to evaluate the L&D function thoroughly and break down everything that can impact its performance. Consider key areas like deep business and end-user understanding, service offerings, stakeholder management, technical capabilities, output maturity, scalability (systems, processes and tools), etc. Ask yourself: “How can we improve each of these areas by just 1%?” 

After completing each project, take time to reflect. What went well? What could have been better? How can you improve next time? What should you prioritise? What is worth your time? 

Here are some areas that can help you to start thinking about what small changes to make: 

  • Alignment with business strategy.  
  • Articulating measurable impact on employee performance and business outcomes before starting projects. 
  • Collaboration with HR to identify future skill needs based on industry trends and organisational changes. 
  • Feedback loops from performance reviews to refine ongoing needs. 
  • More time to understand the business problem to ensure you address root causes rather than symptoms. 
  • Investing time and resources to deeply understand employees’ needs and challenges. 
  • Processes to involve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) experts early in each intervention. 
  • Investing time and resources in exploring technologies and new approaches to personalise learning journeys. 
  • Budget optimisation and allocating budgets to high-impact areas while leveraging cost-effective training solutions for other areas. 
  • Partnership with regional teams. 

Even if you are a team of one, you can break down everything you could think of that goes into L&D and identify what you could improve. The key is to have an aspiration and clarity about what your L&D function wants to achieve and then work backwards to identify the incremental changes needed to achieve them. Avoid becoming so focused on the end goal that you overlook the small actions that drive daily progress. 

We need to shift the mindset that big problems require big and expensive solutions. The marginal gains approach offers a powerful alternative that tackles both resistance to change and resource limitations. Small, manageable improvements can steadily enhance your services and provide significant value to your organisation. 


Houra Amin is the Director and L&D consultant at Blue Jay Learning. You can contact her at houraamin@bluejaylearning.com

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