John Robb, "Brave New War", and Group Size
A two folded assay concerning group size and effectiveness.
Is the SWC itself reaching the group size dynamics as described in Chapter 7? Especially, page 140.
Quote:
His analysis (replete with examples) shows that there is a gradual falloff in effectiveness of online groups at 80 members, with an absolute falloff at 150 members. The initial falloff occurs, according to Allen, because of an increasing amount of effort spent on "grooming" the group to maintain cohesion. The absolute falloff occurs at 150 members, when grooming fails to stem dissatisfaction and dissension within the group. This will cause the group to cleave apart into smaller subgroups (although some may remain affiliated with the original group).
John Robb goes on to give an example of the Mafia group size in the United States directly related to the organizations' periods of peak effectiveness:
The Genovese Family; 152 members
The Gambino Family; 130 members
The Luchese Family; 113 members
As one can see it doesn't take a lot of members to make headlines that would give the false impression that the organization is much larger than its actual size.
Is the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan much lower than they actual appear in the press?
Group Size: Communists & The Russian Revolution; Quakers & Social Reform in USA
The size of the group is not as important as the committment and skill of the group members. The Mafia "families" were relatively small yet yielded enormous power. I'm curious as to the size of the "Communist" party at the time of the Russian revolution. How many "Bolsheviks" were there really there who took over a nation of perhaps 150million people? The group was I think relatively small but unbelievable effective at taking power (and abusing it.)
Another, but perhaps completely different, "revolutionary" group would be the Quakers in the USA. They have always been a pretty small religious sect, but they have apparently had enormous influence in reforms in the American social contract. I believe they were key players in both the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s and the Viet Nam anti-war movement. Of course they may not have been very effective in any of those endeavors. The Viet Nam war went on for long after the anti war movement started, slavery did not end in the South (it just stopped calling itself slavery) and look at civil rights in the USA today. Were their efforts, though high profile, effective?
Wild Bill
Rowdy Grandmothers always have great teaching points.
Helps that they're willing to tell their grandkids things they learned from raising the kids parents that said parents have not yet discovered... ;)