The Small Group

Lying somewhere between a club and a loosely defined set of friends, the SMALL GROUP is a repeated theme in the lives of the successful. Benjamin Franklin had the Junto Club, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had The Inklings, Jobs and Wozniak had Homebrew.

Around a dozen members is the sweet spot of social motivation: small enough to know everyone, yet large enough that the group won’t collapse if one or two members’ enthusiasm wanes; small enough that you are not daunted by competing with the whole world, yet large enough that you still need to be on your toes to keep up.

  1. ​Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees​
  2. ​Mutual appreciation​
  3. ​Scenius​
  4. ​Tossing an idea around​

I also think of artist collectives like Robert Irwin's early work at the Ferus Gallery. But it also seems that you can't just get any 12 people together and have it work as a truly creative SMALL GROUP – most startups I feel would not necessarily fit this description. Probably the members need to be doing the same kind of work, not just working on the same thing.