Leadership, teams & operations · law 095
Dunbar's Number
By Shivam Bhandari · Reviewed 31 October 2026 · How we write
what it means
People can maintain only around 150 stable social relationships at a time.
How Dunbar's Number works
Beyond about 150 people, informal trust and shared knowledge break down. Groups that size need more structure, rules, and management.
Some companies deliberately keep units below this size. W. L. Gore & Associates (maker of Gore-Tex) famously kept plants to around 150 people.
where it comes from
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed it in 1992, based on the relationship between brain size and group size in primates.
Dunbar's Number examples in business
Company growth
A company that ran on personal relationships at 80 people struggles with coordination at 200.
Factories
Manufacturers split large sites into smaller units to keep teams close-knit.
Communities
Online communities form sub-groups as they grow.
How to apply it
- 1Expect informal systems to break somewhere between 100 and 200 people.
- 2Add structure — clear roles, SOPs, team leads — before you reach that point.
- 3Keep teams and units small enough for trust.
- 4Use sub-communities to keep large customer groups engaged.
common misreading
150 is an estimate with wide variation, and later studies debate it. The point is that relationship capacity has limits.
ask yourself
Is your company approaching the size where informal ways of working stop scaling?
put it into practice
Frequently asked questions
What is Dunbar's Number?
People can maintain only around 150 stable social relationships at a time. Beyond about 150 people, informal trust and shared knowledge break down. Groups that size need more structure, rules, and management.
Who came up with Dunbar's Number?
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed it in 1992, based on the relationship between brain size and group size in primates.
How do you apply Dunbar's Number in business?
1. Expect informal systems to break somewhere between 100 and 200 people. 2. Add structure — clear roles, SOPs, team leads — before you reach that point. 3. Keep teams and units small enough for trust. 4. Use sub-communities to keep large customer groups engaged.
What is a common misunderstanding of Dunbar's Number?
150 is an estimate with wide variation, and later studies debate it. The point is that relationship capacity has limits.