Introduction

When we think about asset management improvements, we often dream of major, game-changing wins. Implementing a new system, upgrading infrastructure, or achieving a step-change in performance sounds ideal. However, large initiatives come with their own challenges—resistance, high resource demands, and unforeseen consequences. While these big wins are appealing, they can lead to workforce disruptions, inconsistently applied systems, and issues in other business areas that weren’t considered.

In contrast, small, incremental improvements often go overlooked. But what if these marginal gains could add up to a significant competitive advantage over time? This article explores the concept of marginal gains and how applying this approach to asset management can result in sustainable, cumulative improvements without the upheaval of large-scale initiatives.

The Power of Marginal Gains

If you’ve ever heard the story of Sir Dave Brailsford and the British Cycling team, you’ll know how powerful marginal gains can be. In 2002, the British Cycling team had only won a single gold medal in its 76-year history. Under Brailsford’s leadership, the team embraced the idea of improving every possible aspect of performance by just 1%.

This approach led to small, seemingly insignificant changes, such as adjusting bike seat comfort, teaching athletes’ proper hand-washing techniques to avoid illness, and even bringing personal mattresses and pillows to competitions for consistent sleep. These marginal gains compounded over time, resulting in the team winning seven out of ten gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and repeating the feat four years later in London.

What can asset managers learn from this? Small, incremental changes may seem trivial on their own, but together, they can lead to significant overall improvement.

Applying Marginal Gains to Asset Management

In asset management, we tend to overlook small wins in favour of large, complex projects. However, the “marginal gains” mindset can uncover countless opportunities for incremental improvement—whether it’s tidying up workspaces, improving lubrication practices, or aligning leadership on key priorities. These changes may not require large budgets or disruptive processes, but over time, they can significantly enhance performance.

Examples of Marginal Gains in Asset Management

Using the ISO 55001 framework, let’s explore small initiatives that can drive marginal gains in your asset management practices:

• Context of the Organisation: Communicating your organisation’s strategic direction more frequently can ensure alignment across all departments.
• Leadership: Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of asset management personnel and supporting departments creates clear accountability, ensuring everyone knows their part in the improvement process.
• Planning: Refining maintenance priorities by making small adjustments, like slightly shifting focus to higher-risk assets or rescheduling maintenance during quieter operational times, can reduce downtime.
• Operation: Encourage operators or technicians to suggest refinements in daily tasks, such as slight tweaks in how inspections are performed or increasing attention to equipment cleanliness.
• Performance Evaluation: A minor shift in KPIs during meetings can direct the team’s attention to new areas. For example, focusing on leading indicators (such as the effectiveness of preventive maintenance) rather than lagging indicators (like equipment failures) can prevent issues before they arise.
• Improvement: A brief daily debrief at the end of each shift, focusing on what went well and what could be improved, can generate a wealth of actionable “just do it” tasks.

Big Wins vs. Small Wins

While large initiatives often seem attractive, they also come with a higher level of complexity, requiring more resources and posing greater risks. On the other hand, small, incremental improvements are easier to implement, come with less disruption, and offer ongoing benefits. Marginal gains provide a more flexible, manageable path to improvement, and over time, these small wins can lead to significant, sustainable growth.

So how do we decide?

When deciding whether to roll out a large initiative or utilize marginal gains to increase the asset management maturity of an organization, several considerations need to be applied:

• Is the organisation high performing and mature in its asset management practices, or poorly performing and reactive? Understanding the maturity level helps in assessing whether the organisation is in need of a large-scale initiative or if smaller, incremental improvements are a better fit.
• What is the business’s urgency to achieve the results? Does the organisation require immediate results to ensure continuity of operations, or is there flexibility for gradual improvements over time?
• How willing is the organisation to commit additional resourcing? Large initiatives often require more people, budget, and time. If resourcing is limited, smaller improvements that offer incremental wins might be more practical.

At Methuen Consulting, we have a structured approach for assessing and guiding this decision-making process. Generally, the outcomes include a balance of larger initiatives and smaller marginal gain activities across an improvement program tailored to each client. This ensures that our clients aren’t solely reliant on major initiatives and don’t miss opportunities for continuous improvement when improving their asset management maturity.

Conclusion: The Cumulative Impact of Small Wins

The concept of marginal gains reminds us that even small steps can lead to meaningful progress over time. Asset management doesn’t always require significant investments or large-scale projects to drive improvement. By focusing on small, actionable changes, you can create an environment of continuous improvement that minimises disruption while maximising performance.

At Methuen Consulting, we specialise in helping organisations identify both big wins and marginal gains in their asset management systems. Contact us today to learn how you can make the most of both small improvements and large initiatives that deliver significant results to your organisation.