Team Sizes

(return to Co-creative Learning Teams, an article on Languaging-Co-creation or see more keywords)

The Whole Course

1. Systems Thinking
2. Self-regulation
3. Self-coordination
4. Living systems
5. Team consciousness
6. Team synergy
7. Team sizes
8. Team diversity
9. Lucky Teams
10. Team Evaluation

Team Sizes (c)

1. Why do humans find it hard to keep track of everyone in a large team?
2. The anthropologist Robin Dunbar has estimated these cognitive limits.
3. His research compared human cranium sizes with those of other primates.
4. We can sustain more friendships than other primates but we have limits.
5. 150 (the Dunbar number) suggests an upper limit on casual friendships.
   • The 5 PEOPLE - with whom we regularly spend 40% of our time
   • The 15 PEOPLE - with whom we spend 60% of our time
   • The maximum 100-250 PEOPLE we may find in our Facebook accounts etc..
6. When teams exceed the Dunbar number hierarchies get steeper.
7. For the purposes of learning we prefer very small teams.
   • (see Dunbar, 2018):

Team Sizes (d)

1. (4 is a sweet spot)
   • see Adaptor - Innovator theory
   • But we are not used to thinking of a relationship like a team player.
   • It can reveal some mathematical truths that surprise us.
     • If we add big numbers together we should expect a commensurately large sum total.

• My granddaughter complains to me about the cruel logic still taught in UK schools.
  • it takes four men half an hour to dig a hole, how many holes will they dig in 2 hours?
• For some, the more challenging part of this question how to second guess what the examiner is asking.
• Is the workforce hypothetical, or actual?
• Are the men all self employed gig economy robots who can work at a constant, standard rate?

1. ⇒ go to NEXT SESSION or return to The School of Co-creation