The magic number is 150. It is the tipping point between groups that work effectively and ones that don't. Why 150?

The brain has a limited amount of space to store certain kinds of information. This limit is called the channel capacity. Phone numbers are seven digits because the human mind can remember up to seven digits before they start making mistakes, so their channel capacity for information is up to seven numbers in one group. The same concept applies to social and emotional relationships. Humans have the capacity to hold a strong relationship with a limited number of people. This limit is determined by the size of a particular part of the brain called the neocortex. A British anthropologist by the name of Robin Dunbar came up with a ratio between the size of the neocortex and the social channel capacity of a living being. When Dunbar plugged the ratio into the equation, he found that the social channel capacity for homo sapiens including humans was 147.5, or about 150. This means that the maximum number of people we can have a genuine social relationship with is 150. Beyond that, our friends are just acquaintances, but we don't truly know them well. Gladwell says that "The rule of 15o suggests that the size of a group is another one of those subtle contextual factors that can make a big difference" (182).

So humans can have a maximum of 15o close relationships with others, but how does this have to do with an idea tipping and turning into an epidemic? To find the answer to that Gladwell writes of a case study done at Gore and Associates, the company that manufacturers GoreTex fabric and Glide dental floss. Gore does not have any bosses or positions within the company. Everyone in the company is an "associate" of equal importance. The only way this is possible is by creating a community small enough to create loyalty. They abide to the rule of 150 by capping all their operations to 150 employees. When they reach this limit, they create a new plant and have a completely different team working together. Since every employee knows the other employees working in the company, this creates a sense of peer pressure to get your work done right. Employees are encouraged to work hard because what they do matters. People know them personally, so they can't get away with doing something and not being noticed.

People can draw many parallels between Linworth and Gore and Associates. Linworth is a small community with just over 150 students, so almost everyone knows everyone else. There is also a sense of social responsibility within the community, so people can't get away with doing things anonymously. At Worthington Kilbourne I have caught myself on numerous occasions, doing the minimum necessary because I know none of the teachers really know. At Linworth I truly need to work hard because all my teachers are close enough that I know that my work ethic can be seen even when I'm outside the classroom. And with class sizes as small as they are, I can't be that kid that sits in the back of the classroom going unnoticed, texting people with his cell phone. There is a real sense of equality at Linworth because the teachers do not hold themselves in a higher position than the students, and at town meeting, their vote is worth the same as any student's vote. Also, teachers and students are both called by their first names, so there is nothing to distinguish teachers and students. Everyone is treated equally.

One of the biggest advantages companies, organizations and groups can tap into by following the rule of 150 is the ability to collaborate and learn from each other. Everyone has their own memories, but many of the memories people have are stored outside of their own mind. Other people hold certain details which provoke your own memory. Your mind puts the bits and pieces of a scene together to give you the memory you think you have. Every person picks up on different things, and when people know each other well, they can rely on each other to remember things because they know who remembers what kinds of things. This allows people to remember specific things and collaborate with others to recall further information. Since the mind has a certain capacity to remember things, the more information you can get from others, the more room you have to remember new unique things. As a group, this allows people to learn new things and rely on others to fill in details that they don't remember as closely. Once the group size passes 150 though, people don't know each other well enough to know exactly who knows what, and they are forced to use up their own memory.

Posted in Posted by Umang Patel at 1:01 AM