The actual number is a bit higher than 150 (290 according to Bernard-Killworth [1]), but the real cost is all the social grooming required to hold a large leade

The actual number is a bit higher than 150 (290 according to Bernard-Killworth [1]), but the real cost is all the social grooming required to hold a large leaderless group together becomes an increasing drag on the organisation's efficiency. The ideal leaderless company size is going to be a function of the efficiency gained by having increased specialisation (each person can focus on fewer things) against the cost of social grooming. Having a hierarchical structure allows the cost of social grooming to be constrained vertically rather than across the whole company. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number