I think my view was that (while they still think they’re cost effective), orgs should be on the Pareto frontier of {size, quality}. However, they should also try to communicate clearly about what they won’t be able to take on, so that others can take on those areas.
I imagine your reply being something like “That’s OK, but org-1 is essentially creating an externality on potential-org-2 by growing more slowly: it means that potential-org-2 has to build a reputation, set up ops etc, rather than just being absorbed into org-1. It’s better for org-1 to not take in potential-org-2, but it’s best for the world if org-1 to take in potential-org-2.”
I think the externality point is correct, but I’m still not sure what’s best for the world: you also need to account for the benefits of quality/focus/learning/independence, which can be pretty significant (according to me).
I think the answer is going to depend a bit on the situation: e.g. I think it’s better for org-1 to take in potential-org-2 if potential-org-2 is doing something more closely related to org-1′s area of expertise, and quite bad for it to try to do something totally different. (E.g. I think it would probably be bad for CEA to try to set up your org with you as PM.) I also think it’s better for org-1 to take on new things if it’s doing it’s current things well and covering more of the ground (since this means that the opportunity cost of it’s growth-attention are lower).
I think my view was that (while they still think they’re cost effective), orgs should be on the Pareto frontier of {size, quality}. However, they should also try to communicate clearly about what they won’t be able to take on, so that others can take on those areas.
I imagine your reply being something like “That’s OK, but org-1 is essentially creating an externality on potential-org-2 by growing more slowly: it means that potential-org-2 has to build a reputation, set up ops etc, rather than just being absorbed into org-1. It’s better for org-1 to not take in potential-org-2, but it’s best for the world if org-1 to take in potential-org-2.”
I think the externality point is correct, but I’m still not sure what’s best for the world: you also need to account for the benefits of quality/focus/learning/independence, which can be pretty significant (according to me).
I think the answer is going to depend a bit on the situation: e.g. I think it’s better for org-1 to take in potential-org-2 if potential-org-2 is doing something more closely related to org-1′s area of expertise, and quite bad for it to try to do something totally different. (E.g. I think it would probably be bad for CEA to try to set up your org with you as PM.) I also think it’s better for org-1 to take on new things if it’s doing it’s current things well and covering more of the ground (since this means that the opportunity cost of it’s growth-attention are lower).