
If you’re working in a big group, you’re fighting human nature - jmorin007
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/995-if-youre-working-in-a-big-group-youre-fighting-human-nature
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xenoterracide
didn't pg write an essay on this? or at least is was a major part of one of
his essays?

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graywh
At least he gathered some new quotes and anecdotal evidence. I particularly
like the "two-pizza" reference.

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davidw
(Completely off topic, but "real" pizzas, in Italy, are one per person).

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graywh
Actually, that's a valid point. "Two-pizza team" could mean 2-5 people
depending on how much pizza that really is and how hungry your teammates are.

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johnrob
Anyone who ate lunch at startup school knows this quite well :)

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jgrahamc
Some time ago I wrote to PG about this very subject:

Paul Graham wrote: | Thanks, John. Dunbar's number is more about the size of
societies than | the size of a group that can cooperate to complete a task.
There the number | is more like 8-12, which I believe prob corresponds to the
smallest unit | in an army.

Not sure the army is the best analogy since they operate with large amounts of
funding and not the same restraints as a start up. Terror organizations are a
better analogy since they have to combine team effectiveness with minimal size
(for security and finance reasons). This seems a lot like a start up that
needs an effective team of the smallest size (for mostly finance reasons).

For example, the IRA was divided into 6 to 8 man operational units.

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mxh
FWIW, the smallest US infantry unit is the fireteam, comprised of 4 men. I
think it's 2 fireteams to a squad.

Sounds like a 2-pizza outfit to me.

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bdr
The army examples don't mean a lot imo. They have unit sizes across a lot of
different scales, so it's not significant that some happen to fall into this
range.

