Dunbar's number

Recently, there was some resource reallocation in our company. Ours was a team of twelve members. The schedule and technology demanded more. I had a one-on-one session with our mentor and brought up the issue. He said he cannot allocate more resource to our team. The decision is not a big surprise given the engineering strength we have but the reason is. Precisely, what I wanted was to put forward details of the resource requirement not an actual resource allocation. Our mentor mentioned that my current manager can handle only 'this much'. I thanked god he didn't mention 'this bunch'. That would turn the pointers on us.

To be frank, I consider our team as a group of self motivated and disciplined individuals (blah! that includes me too). Till I read this Seth Godin article on Dunbar's number, I thought managing a team like ours is not a real big deal. Though he talks about building tribes, I got what I wanted.

In his book "Good to Great" Jim Collins quotes

The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (ofcourse the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.

Compensation, job opportunities and technical exposure often are the cliched as motivational factors. I believe if we have right people, they will be a group of self-motivated individuals. What the management should do is take care that they are not demotivated by external factors. The external factor also includes other resources.

I thought my mentor was right in relating the Dunbar number with my manager's capabilities. He also took care that the current self-motivated 'bunch' is not demotivated by adding 'much' more.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6 Strength Training Myths Debunked - By Jenna McCarthy

When it comes to lifting weights, everyone has an opinion. One day you hear heaving heavy weights will leave you looking like a linebacker (it won't). The next day, rumor has it that supermodel limbs are a mere 10 minutes away thanks to the Miracle Machine du jour (not in this lifetime). The fact is, those little hand weights aren't the only dumbbells lurking around your gym. If all this conflicting information is enough to make you burn your jog bra and bag working out altogether, fear not: We sought out two of the most in-the-know pros in the fitness industry to clear up your confusion once and for all.   1. If you lift weights, you'll bulk up. "It's physiologically impossible," says Michael Wood, director of the Sports Performance Group in Cambridge, Mass., and an exercise physiologist at Tufts Research Center on Aging. The reason? Testosterone is responsible for a muscle's bulk, and women simply don't have enough of this predominantly
Read more

The top list

Image
Outlook released its top role models of Indian women. Here is the list... Sania Mirza: May be the greatest of the sensations this year. No need of justification for her selection and no words could explain her excellence... She has taken indian sporting arena to greater heights. A good example for the blend beauty and talent. She is sure to reach greater heights and can inspire numbers. Aruna roy: She worked at the SWRC until 1983, then moved to Devdoondri in 1990 and set up the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana, a group which is a working example of a transparent organization. She is a strong supporter of the movement for Right to Information, which succeeded in getting the Rajasthan Right to Information Bill passed. She won the Ramon Magsaysay award for Community Leadership in 2000. Ela Bhatt: Ela Bhatt: Check the link wikipedia says more about her.. Preity Zinta: In India if you want to be famous easiest of the paths are politics and cine-field of-course no less of hardwork. When I sa
Read more