Only one single sharp knife ...
A short excursion into the physics of the early 20th century: It was thought that the energy of a light beam was proportional to the light intensity. If you irradiate a metal plate with light, you can increase the light intensity as you like, you do not get electrons released from the metal, unless the light has at least a certain frequency. Einstein came to the hypothesis that:
Light consists of light quanta, also called photon. When a photon hits a metal surface, it releases all its energy completely to a metal electron. If this energy is sufficient to overcome the so-called exit work, the electron leaves the metal surface.
So it is not the number of photons (which corresponds to the intensity) that is decisive, but that an irradiated photon has sufficient energy.
I had to think about this effect again the other day when there were some stressful days in my company: It often helps zero to put more and more people on a topic. The friction losses become higher, the coordination effort increases and the clear prioritization only becomes more difficult. Especially with complicated, or even complex problems, this is absolutely counterproductive. A small team of capable experts can solve such problems. Larger teams with less capable professionals, on the other hand, have no chance. It does not help many photons with small energy, it needs one with the right bum. For some problems, it only takes a single really sharp knife that really cuts!
Turning your employees into such “sharp knife” is therefore a much more important measure than building up your own team through further growth. The bigger it gets, the less time there is usually for the coaching and further development of each individual, although this is exactly what is so important. Quality instead of quantity!
In the software industry, there has been an employee market for years, in which software developers can choose their employer almost at will. Conversely, companies have a very hard time recruiting capable developers. More than ever, a company should therefore invest a lot in the further training and further development of its employees and bind them to the company in the long term.
Quite good teams can climb mountains, a mini-team of “sharp knifes” can move mountains.