Small Groups in Big Group
I was reading “Change by Design” by Tim Brown - the CEO of IDEO - for last 2 days.
He talked about why and how the concept of design thinking be putting into practice in this book.
I especially interested in one concept he brought up in this book: “small groups in big group”. He said that in the process of innovation, small groups which more capable of concentrating on building structure is needed. And big groups are only needed when a program needed to be carried out.
The reason was mentioned by William H. Whyte said early in 1952, “group thinking” is tend to depress individual creativity. So even when we need to work in big groups, it’s better to break into small groups and work separately first, and then work together. In this way, the group will enjoy much more convenient and efficient communication interactions. And also, at the same time, group members can bring more creative ideas.
This whole “Small Groups in Big Group” theory reminds me about my research - Douban user’s interaction. Because “small group” is a very special feature about Douban.Douban users gather together according to their interests - it can be a very niche British rock band, a cult movie director, or an independent singer. Those groups are never big.The biggest Douban group is only about 150000 members. But as for other Chinese SNS websites such as Renren or Weibo, we may find groups like Wuhan Uni, as much as 50000 people can be found in this group.
I am wondering if the “small group” Tim Brown mentioned in his book has any similarity with Douban’s groups? Is it because of these “small groups” that enabled Douban to be one of the most creative and interesting SNS-s in China? How did Douban benefited from these groups? Is Douban special of these small groups? Or are these small groups became innovative and special because of Douban? Do these small groups change users behavior? Even though they might be the same people who also user Renren?
Questions above are what I will continue to study in the future of our Bytes of China research.
BTW: I really like the content of this book. But I have to say, the Chinese version of this book really need improvement. The design of the book doesn’t look like it’s produced by one of the best design companies in the world.
