• The Small Group

    Lying somewhere between a club and a loosely defined set of friends, the SMALL GROUP is a repeated theme in the lives of the successful. Benjamin Franklin had the Junto Club, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had The Inklings, Jobs and Wozniak had Homebrew.

    Around a dozen members is the sweet spot of social motivation: small enough to know everyone, yet large enough that the group won’t collapse if one or two members’ enthusiasm wanes; small enough that you are not daunted by competing with the whole world, yet large enough that you still need to be on your toes to keep up.

    An Article by James Mulholland jmulholland.com

    I also think of artist collectives like Robert Irwin's early work at the Ferus Gallery. But it also seems that you can't just get any 12 people together and have it work as a truly creative SMALL GROUP – most startups I feel would not necessarily fit this description. Probably the members need to be doing the same kind of work, not just working on the same thing.

    • Mutual appreciation Matt Webb

      To use slightly different terms, mutual appreciation is a healthy jealousy without envy – a drive to achieve the same but without wanting to take it from the other.

    • Scenius Brian Eno

      Scenius stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.

    • Tossing an idea around

      Can we do anything to increase creativity? There are training courses, and books, as well as “brainstorming sessions” which are supposed to do this. Taking the brainstorming sessions first, while they were very fashionable at one time, they have generally been found to be not much good when formally done, when a brainstorming session is carefully scheduled. But we all have had the experience of “tossing an idea around” with a friend, or a few friends (but not a large group, generally), from which insight, creativity, or whatever you care to call it, arises and we make progress.

    • ⭐ The perfect software team Dylan Smith

      The perfect software team is 2-4 people. Never more than five.

      The perfect software team has one designer. The designer codes.

      Like it or not, the perfect software team works together in the same room.

      There is no product manager on the perfect software team.

    • ⭐ It takes two to think Itai Yanai & Martin Lercher

      If large groups are not ideal, what is the perfect group size? A fascinating 2019 study explored this question by looking at citation networks. They found that papers with more authors tend to receive more citations — large teams are good at developing a field. However, they found that the smallest teams — between one and three authors — were significantly more likely to publish disruptive results that could change the course of a field. So, in terms of sheer creativity, smaller groups seem to have an advantage.

      With three or more people, group think and social dynamics kick in; there is an audience to impress. Thus, the ideal group may actually be of a minimal size: two. When working with just one other person, one must remain fully focused as the pair iteratively move the discussion forward. Two people who support each other's thinking can travel far in their thinking without getting distracted. With just one other person, it is also easier to be at ease and to enjoy the experience — to get into a state of 'flow'.

      It takes two to think (Yanai & Lercher).jpeg