Too Much of a Good Thing: Finding the Balance
summary
Argues that every good practice follows an inverted U — too much autonomy, communication, efficiency or consensus hurts. Uses concrete cases: Bezos’s two-pizza teams for scalable autonomy, SpaceX cutting launch cost from $18,500 to $2,720 per kg (~7×) by fast test launches and a “responsibility” model, March 2021 Texas grid and supply-chain failures from over-optimization, and the rise of continuous delivery. Recommends shared short-term goals, champions plus volunteers, junior voices first, explore multiple opposing options and avoid simple voting.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Start
- 2:26Too Much Communication?
- 3:44A New Model for Complex Systems
- 5:28Too Much Autonomy?
- 8:00Too much Efficiency?
- 9:22Understanding Flow: A Perishable Goods Supply Chain
- 10:54Too Much Consensus?
- 12:40Fair Fights → Better Outcomes
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