Thinking about marginal gains is wasting your time. 

Worrying about the edges isn’t going to help. Improving by one percent is a recipe for decline. Sweating the small stuff won’t make any difference. 

Because there’s something huge that you haven’t dealt with yet. 

Maybe you’re thinking “Oh we’ve solved all of the big problems Duncan”. 

The truth is there’s a problem that most people, and almost no businesses, have not got to grips with yet. A problem that is so big it cost the UK economy £53 billion in lost productivity last year. To put that into context the entire corporation tax receipts of the UK government were £53 billion. 

We are not talking about marginal gains. Because the cost to your business is anything but marginal. And it’s not even on your radar… 

It’s in your glass. 

Alcohol is one of the biggest unaddressed problems in business today. 

Even if you have your drinking under control, you work with people who don’t. 40% of Britons had at least one night of heavy drinking in the last thirty days. And that’s enough to cause some big problems. 

If you’re tempted to think that it’s not an issue for the people you work with, think again. Alcohol is a problem of success, the more you earn the more you drink. 13.5% of the top earners drink on a daily basis. 

The scientific evidence for the impact of even moderate drinking is starting to mount up. The evidence is becoming clear for alcohol’s disastrous impact on sleep, focus, mood and energy. The combination of all of these are lower productivity, worse relationships and poor performance. 

Alcohol is one of the biggest unaddressed problems in business today. 

But it doesn’t have to be. You can build alcohol awareness within your business. You can help staff, and particularly managers, become more aware of the impact of alcohol. You can build a culture that embraces diversity by offering a genuine alternative to getting drunk at the next company social.

The time for alcohol awareness is here. The time for maximum gains is now.