Price’s Law

If you belong to committees, regularly publish academic articles, or, work in a company, you’ve maybe been exposed to Price’s Law.

It estimates that 50% of the creative production output is done by the square root of the number of people involved.  With 100 employees, 10 of them do half the work.  That means 90 people do the other half.  As a company grows (or a committee, or an academic body), creative competence grows linearly; incompetence grows exponentially. 

If you manage a team, know who your square root is.  If you are a participant, know if you’re contributing or coasting.