Operational efficiency is often pursued bottom-up: one system, one process, one data issue and one improvement team at a time.
That can deliver local value, but it often leaves the organisation with fragmented fixes and limited insight into the larger cost base.
Better efficiency starts with better understanding of data: what it means, where it moves, how quality is measured and which controls already exist.
The useful lesson from BCBS 239 is its risk-driven logic.
Focus first on the data elements, processes and reports with the greatest material impact, then connect improvements across that foundation.
This creates a route to reduce operational cost without forcing the whole organisation into one large transformation programme.
Individual efficiency cases can still remain small, compact and delivery-focused.
The difference is whether each case remains isolated or strengthens the same knowledge foundation.
When data understanding, lineage, controls and definitions are reused across cases, local improvements start to compound into wider enterprise value.
That is where operational efficiency becomes more than a one-off saving.
It becomes a structured capability to keep reducing complexity while improving control.