A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players. — Steve Jobs

A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.

Author: Steve Jobs

Insight: We've all experienced this sideways. You join a project with five genuinely sharp people who communicate clearly and actually care about the work, and suddenly things move at a pace that feels almost unfair to larger, more "official" teams drowning in meetings and miscommunication. The difference isn't about working harder—it's about working with people who raise everyone's game simply by showing up. What makes this Jobs insight still sharp is that most organizations move in the opposite direction. They assume scale solves problems. Hire more people, add more layers, create more oversight. But a team of excellent players doesn't just work faster; they think differently. They anticipate problems before meetings happen. They trust each other enough to take real risks. A mediocre team needs constant management. An excellent small team essentially manages itself. The less obvious part? Building that A+ team is actually harder than scaling up, which is probably why so few organizations do it. It's easier to say yes to hiring another body than to be ruthlessly honest about whether someone raises or lowers the collective intelligence of the room. But when you do get it right, it's transformative—not just for productivity, but for the actual experience of working.

Source: Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, p. 422, 2011