Politician Speaks Perfect Sense Shock!

by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

In order to make our* medal haul as impressive as our sporting venues at the London 2012 Olympics, the national steering committee adopted what Team Sky's Principal of Cycling Sir Dave Brailsford calls 'The Aggregation of Marginal Gains'.They looked at the gold-medal winning times at previous Olympics, and Team GB's times for the same events. The differences were so tiny I'd have put our shortfall down to bad luck on the day. According to Olympic committee member Lord Moynihan in his speech to Monmouth School last month, that's not how it works.

You have to look at every tiny detail of what every person does, from the athlete themselves to the person in charge of bio-security. If every system runs perfectly, fit and healthy athletes will reach the track/pool/course in perfect condition. Unstressed by delays and equipped with the latest scientifically-thought out kit and equipment, they'll be able to make the best of their perfect nutrition and training regimes to shave off the ten-thousandth of a second or centimetre which makes the difference between coming first and second.

A bit more effort, a lot more tomatoes!

The beauty of the aggregation of marginal gains is that you can apply the system to everything in life, not just sport (thank goodness). For example, I've grown good tomatoes for years but since hearing Lord Moynihan's speech I've improved the quality of them no end by scrutinising everything I do in the greenhouse, from hygiene to pruning.

Now I'm going to bring The Aggregation of Marginal Gains to my latest release, Jewel Under Siege by releasing a paperback version to complement the ebook already on sale here. I'll keep you updated on my progress on this blog, and you can subscribe to it by using the box on the top-right hand side of this page.

*This is egregious buddying-up on my part, as my PB for the 100 metres at school was 27.2 seconds so there'd be plenty of time for Asha Philip et al to cross the line, make the tea and cut the cake by the time I rolled in.