Why big companies can't collaborate?
There’s an inverse correlation between size and collaboration.
Here’s what we’re saying—
As companies get bigger, their teams tend to get bigger
As teams get bigger, coordination ‘consumes’ way too much energy and attention
As teams get bigger, communication gets constrained; and
As teams get bigger, collaboration stifles
Size matters.
Big teams choke collaboration.
It’s why most big companies suck at collaboration.
It’s why they can’t win the innovation game (their big R&D spend notwithstanding!)
And as teams are eating the world, cracking this critical interplay is key to the future of your business—and to your personal future, too.
So what can you do about it?
Keep it small
Make it nimble
Ignore the ‘conventional’ wisdom of the “Two Pizza Rule” (that says teams should not be larger than what two pizzas can feed)
Aim for near-zero coordination
Direct energy, attention and motivation to substance
That’s how we collaborate at KnackApp.
We’ve got one rule, and only one: the smallest joint collaborator—which says, in plain English, the smallest team wins! It’s why we work in microteams (more on that later).
Now…
Consider the US Apollo space mission.
This three-person team landed the first humans on the moon—and brought them back to earth. And that was back in 1969.
As Einstein said, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
The takeaway?
In the race to collaborate and innovate, big is the winner’s curse.
📬Get in touch at ceo@knackapp.com
💰Find collaborators at KnackApp