Cap decision meetings at 6-8 people — communication…

When This Fires

• When scheduling a meeting and deciding who to invite
• When meetings feel unproductive despite having the "right people in the room"
• When meeting discussions are dominated by 2-3 voices while others stay silent
• When meetings have grown beyond their original size through invite creep

Common Failure Mode

Inclusive over-invitation: "Let's invite everyone who might have input." The intention is inclusivity; the effect is a 15-person meeting where 10 people sit silently, the discussion is shallow (social cost of depth is too high), and decisions are vague (too many stakeholders for clear commitment).

The Protocol

(1) For each meeting, identify the minimum viable attendee list: who must be present for the meeting to achieve its purpose? This is typically 3-6 people. (2) If the list exceeds 8, restructure: split into two meetings with different scopes, or designate representatives who can speak for broader groups. (3) For people who need to be informed but not participate, send meeting notes after — they don't need to attend. (4) Apply the contribution test: for each invitee beyond the core group, ask "Will this person's attendance change the meeting's outcome?" If no → don't invite. Send notes instead. (5) Monitor: if a meeting regularly has participants who never speak, they probably don't need to be there. Remove them from the invite and share notes instead.