Everyone seems to be obsessed with growing; growing, scaling, growing fast.

What happens when a company grows? Everything becomes more complex.

To reduce complexity you have to reduce size. More or less.

There is a law called Metcalfe’s Law that says that the more people you add to a network, the harder it is to communicate effectively. Scientists say that we can only maintain close relationships with about five people and less intense ones with fifteen others.

This is why small teams are more decisive in getting things done than large teams; more efficient and more effective.

That is why meetings of 15 people are not effective. They are only effective if they are held every so often and if they last only a short time and involve only a very few people.

Forward-thinking organisations have realised this and moved away from traditional top-down structures. Instead, they’ve created networks of teams that work together autonomously with less middle management.

Although when there is no boss or central decision-maker, communication has to be fluid and constant.