The Hayflick Limit
Companies often find that the culture they had when they were small is more difficult to maintain as the company grows. I ran across a new term - in, of all places, biology - that may be useful as a metaphor for explaining this phenomenon.
Cells must divide and multiply so that the body can grow and repair itself. A scientist by the name of Leonard Hayflick discovered that there is a limit to how many times they can divide. That number, which is now called the "Hayflick Limit," is around 50.
Is there an "organizational Hayflick limit?" It's just a thought.
Comments
According to the book The tipping point, there is. After about 180 employees, that small company thing is lost, and companies start to move like a big honkin company.
Gortex actually splits its offices up when the get much about 180 employees.
Posted by: Eve | August 27, 2003 04:54 PM