The Telephone Game
The Problem
Adding layers of people between idea and execution. Business person → Business Analyst → Project Manager → Data Developer → UI Developer → back to business. Six people. Six handoffs. Each handoff loses fidelity. Each translation adds cost. Each person added increases project time exponentially. A six-week project becomes six months. Communication overhead is your invisible budget killer. Rob Collie calls it "dark matter"—you can't see it, but it's massive and it's slowing everything down.
The Principle
MINIMIZE HANDOFFS, MAXIMIZE CAPABILITY: The most efficient communication is communicating with yourself. This is why unicorns (people who can do requirements AND build) are so valuable. The fewer humans principle: Minimize people needed by rounding out skill sets. BA who can build = one person instead of three. Developer who can do requirements = one person instead of two. Designer who can code = one person instead of two. This isn't about firing people—it's about making people MORE capable so projects that took six months take six weeks. So requirements don't get lost in translation. So iteration happens in hours, not weeks. Count the handoffs in your projects. How many people touch it from idea to delivery? Work to eliminate translation layers. Build up existing people's skills rather than adding more specialists. Enable self-service where possible. Internal teams are small consulting firms. Less handoffs = more value, faster. That's the manufacturing mindset.
3 Steps to Take Action
Count the Handoffs: For your top 5 projects, map how many people touch it from idea to delivery. If it's >3, you have too much dark matter.
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