Difference between revisions of "Marginal Gains"

From Clinfowiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Example)
(Concept)
Line 2: Line 2:
  
 
== Concept ==
 
== Concept ==
The aggregation of marginal gains, doctrine of marginal gains, the 1% Factor, marginal gains theory, or simply marginal gains is the idea that small, sustained improvements across several areas over time result in significant improvement, that massive improvement doesn't require massive change, and that if a system is broken down into its component parts and these parts are all improved by a small amount then the system can have a large benefit. [1,2,3] It is often attributed to Sir Dave Brailsford who applied this concept the the British Cycling Team.
+
The aggregation of marginal gains, doctrine of marginal gains, the 1% Factor, marginal gains theory, or simply marginal gains is the idea that small, sustained improvements across several areas over time result in significant improvement, that massive improvement doesn't require massive change, and that if a system is broken down into its component parts and these parts are all improved by a small amount then the system can have a large benefit.[1,2,3] It is often attributed to Sir Dave Brailsford who applied this concept the the British Cycling Team.
  
 
== Example ==
 
== Example ==

Revision as of 18:06, 22 October 2021


Concept

The aggregation of marginal gains, doctrine of marginal gains, the 1% Factor, marginal gains theory, or simply marginal gains is the idea that small, sustained improvements across several areas over time result in significant improvement, that massive improvement doesn't require massive change, and that if a system is broken down into its component parts and these parts are all improved by a small amount then the system can have a large benefit.[1,2,3] It is often attributed to Sir Dave Brailsford who applied this concept the the British Cycling Team.

Example

The most famous example of the marginal gains application is that of the British Cycling Team under the leadership of Sir Dave Brailsford. From 1908 to 2003, prior to his appointment, the team had amassed a total of one Olympic gold medal and zero Tour de France wins.[1] After his appointment to the head of British Cycling, Sir Dave Brailsford applied the concept of marginal gains to the team by breaking down everything that when into competitive cycling and focusing on small gains in these areas, as opposed to large gains in any one area. This included making small improvements to bicycle and rider aerodynamics, hand hygiene, sleep habits, diet, recovery, and just about anything they could identify.[1,2,3] In the following 15 years, British cyclist won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals, and 5 Tour de France victories.[1] Due to the astounding results, marginal gains spread rapidly to other sports, business, healthcare, and personal life.[2]

Application in Healthcare

Virginia Mason in Seattle, WA applied this type of system to help improve patient safety. Part of their system empowered practitioners to report errors in order to identify weaknesses that could be improved.[3] The focus was on changing the system and not the individual. This lead to a change in medication labelling, checklists in the operating room, and clinical hygiene among many others, in an effort to make small changes that would accumulate to significant results and continuous improvement.[4] The Virginia Mason Production System was implemented in 2002 and has 3000 ongoing continuous improvement activities.[4] Since this implementation, it is considered one of the safest hospitals in the world and has seen a reduction of 74% in their liability insurance premium.[2]

References

  1. Clear, James. “This Coach Improved Every Tiny Thing by 1 Percent and Here’s What Happened” James Clear, [1]. Accessed 22 October 2021
  2. Syed, Matthew. (2015, September 15) "Viewpoint: Should we all be looking for marginal gains?" BBC. [2]. Accessed 22 October 2021
  3. Harrell, Eben (2015, October 30) "How 1% Performance Improvements Led to Olympic Gold" HBR. [3]. Accessed 22 October 2021
  4. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. "Virginia Mason Production System" Virginia Mason. [4]. Accessed 22 October 2021


Submitted by John G Williams