The Power of 150

In his book "The Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell discusses the power of 150. What he refers to is the maximum size group for effective communications. He uses examples from ages past as well as from today in describing how communications break down once any organization: religious, social, and even work exceed this size.



One of the major examples is the company WR Grace and Company: long believed one of the great success stories in business. WR Grace follows the power of 150 rule in the sizing of all their operations. Their plants have a maximum of 150 employees. That's not just 150 in manufacturing, the front office, or some department. It is the maximum for that particular business unit. Why would that be? In his research Gladwell learned that keeping this as a maximum allows engineering to communicate with marketing, production, sales, research, and what ever other groups more effectively and responsively to problems, customer requests, market changes, or anything else that arises.

Gladwell also talks about the size of groups back to prehistoric days and their ability to support each other becoming problematic when the groups grew too large. When that happened there were food shortages and other problems to the extent that the groups would automatically splinter off to a more manageable size. But enough of that.

How can we apply this to our network? When you follow the Pareto or 80/20 rule you should limit your "A" group to 150. This is your critical group, the one that is the most important, and therefore requires and deserves the most attention. Keep the size manageable so you can communicate with enough effectiveness and timeliness that you maintain a great relationship.

Find other ways to communicate with the rest of your contacts using email newsletters, blogs, discussion groups, and web sites to keep them relatively current on your activities. If you are doing the right things you will have people in this category continuing to reach out to you but your efforts are will be more appropriately directed.

Remember:

1. Keep your "A" list focused and no larger than 150.
2. Communicate on a regular basis and look for things that you can send to your "A" group.
3. Communicate to those that are not on your "A" list through email newsletters, blogs, discussion groups, and websites.

Happy networking!