The CEO of NICTA today lashed out at Telstra for its dismal record on research and development, a topic which I have blogged on several times. He supported his assertions by referencing the research and reports of Dr. Terry Cutler who noted that Australia’s investment in innovation and R&D is 50% lower than the OECD average.
So …. here is a question which I would like to ponder
are big companies dumber than small companies ?
logically one has to assume that they are ….. simply the weight of numbers must drag down the average IQ of any organisation (or project for that matter). You start out with a few insanely brilliant guys and as you grow you start adding people … but you cannot find brilliant and motivated people on every street corner. And of course you have to start hiring to meet corporate HR policies. So by definition the average “smarts” are being reduced over time and by growth …. the bigger the project gets the dumber it gets. And, the more people you add at the bottom, the more time it takes from the smart guys to manage those whose contribution is ….well …. less than desirable.
Is it then an absolute corollary that really big companies are getting dumber ?
what do you think ?
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