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I believe some sociologists found that personal relationships begin to break down at about 150. Beyond that it is very difficult to maintain meaningful interact
by mmcconnell1618 16y ago
I believe some sociologists found that personal relationships begin to break down at about 150. Beyond that it is very difficult to maintain meaningful interaction in person. Online relationship numbers are much higher so maybe a distributed team like 37Signals can get away with this for a while longer.
- arctangent 16y agoYou're referring to Dunbar's Number: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number
- mmcconnell1618 16y agoThanks for the concrete link! I never knew the name.
- dhh 16y agoYou should never say never, but I don't think we'll ever be 150 people. I think there's a good chance we'll never even be 50 people. Although, as many others have pointed out, there are some great examples of huge companies running similar strategies to good effect (Semco etc).
- mmcconnell1618 16y agoWhat happens if you're inspired to branch out in another direction? Would your plan be to form a new company that also stays small and nimble? What would you see as the benefits to separate small organizations v. a larger one with smaller divisions?