26-27_David Robertson.qxp_Grid 19/01/2024 19:17 Page 1
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
Sir Dave Brailsford is a name that has transcended sport. He is also a man back firmly in the news with his link to Manchester United, my team, as one of a three-person committee – alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer – to manage the football side as part of Ineos acquiring a 25% stake in the club. Man U has not had their troubles to seek in these last few years. In the same way as Clintons, they have the name recognition and at one time the largest following, but in recent times they have been a million miles away from being successful. As Brailsford prepares to put his marginal gains strategy into play with Man U, it got me thinking about how this works for our business. Inset: As Brailsford believes, we would all benefit from slowing our busy minds, like this Buddhist monk.
Sir Dave Brailsford’s history is an interesting one. He left home in his early 20s, heading to France to try and join a professional cycling team. Sleeping rough, facing rejection and not really knowing the best way to get the best from himself he eventually got a chance, but did not quite make it. What followed was him being inspired by this and he enrolled to study what was then the early stages of sports psychology. He then completed an MBA and developed further. In effect, he has been there from the infancy of sport psychology being able to view the
Marginal Gains
mind as being as important to train as the rest of the body. His ethos around finding that extra little something that makes a difference has been honed over 20 years of working with different sports teams. Although most famous for working with cyclists and Olympians he has gone on to use these skills in many settings, including business. His ethos of marginal gains got me thinking about how we could possibly implement some of this in our day-to-day operations. Brailsford’s theory is rooted in that fact that he believes trying to make huge changes in your life or business performance is very difficult. He equates it to those who each January try to alter their diet, their sleep, their exercise and the way they perform. You just swamp yourself and there are very few people who can actually carry this through for any length of time. He believes that you/your team need to set small realistic goals that can be evaluated Above: A graph which author James Clear shared on his blog based on Dave Brailsford’s marginal gain beliefs. Left: Sir Dave Brailsford is bringing his approach and beliefs to Manchester United.
26 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
and achieved. He believes that the feeling of fulfilment and success in turns breeds further commitment to improve and indeed further success. My plan was to start 2024 with more exercise, more sleep and more time, but as always things don’t quite work out that like! The simplest gain that Brailsford often speaks about is smiling. Smiling and asking your colleagues to do the same creates a positive atmosphere. Being genuine and open allows for a culture where customers and colleagues feel safe and welcomed. There are things that require ‘buy in’ from your team and while we are not all striving for a gold medal, we can surely add little things to suit, such as the team all having a coffee together before starting work. Some of the best marginal gains implemented by Brailsford with the cycling team included hiring a surgeon to show each team member how to wash their hands properly to avoid colds. They assessed each rider’s sleep and matched them with the correct mattress and pillows. They even painted everything inside their trucks white to spot any tiny bits of debris that may cause a bike to be slower. As each of these gains was implemented
