Redundancy Protects Human Collaborations from Failure

In the name of efficiency, organizations and governments around the world are increasingly trimming redundancy---personnel or overlapping capabilities beyond what routine operations require. Drawing on distributed computing and cognitive science, we challenge this view. Using queueing simulations and a preregistered multiplayer experiment (N = 832 in 187 teams of 3–6), we show that redundancy improves performance through two distinct routes. Adding collaborators to a team improves resilience, with larger teams completing more tasks when members became temporarily unable to contribute. Giving team members overlapping capabilities also improved efficiency, with teams in which collaborators could perform multiple roles completing substantially more work. These findings suggest that efforts to improve short-term efficiency by reducing redundancy may come at a cost, quietly eroding a team’s capacity to withstand unexpected failures.

The Productivity Mirage

What I once thought about programming productivity was wrong

Washington Post to cut one-third of all staff

The Washington Post cuts one-third of all staff across the company including "substantial newsroom reductions".

The Four Factors for Organizations - Future Mending Radio

When I pick an organization for the podcast or the map at Futuremending.com, I’m not just picking businesses out of a hat – I have a system for evaluating orgs which I call the Four Factors for Organizations. The Four Factors are Multi-solving, Sharing, Sufficiency and Transparency.This episode is in two parts. The opening minutes are a bit of an emotional check-in to see how people are processing the unprecedented political turmoil in the United States. The second part of the podcast discusses the Four Factors for Organizations and why seeking out certain vectors of change makes more sense than trying to lay out a detailed plan for a better future. Read about the Four Factors: https://www.futuremending.com/whatMatt’s Blue Sky account: https://bsky.app/profile/mattliepaehlke.bsky.socialWired Magazine coverage of the crisis in the U.S. : https://www.wired.com/tag/elon-musk/Rebecca Solnit’s newsletter: https://meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io/welcome-to-meditations-in-an-emergency/ Google's AI Policy: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/05/google-owner-drops-promise-not-to-use-ai-for-weapons Future Mending Map: https://www.futuremending.com/toronto    Music Credits:'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions.  Used with permission of the artist.‘Fashion’ by Alex Productions. Creative Commons.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV1miCgT7J4‘Miss you’ by Middle Child. Creative Commons.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dayIKHEIYqY‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass.  Arr. by Karl Michelson.  Performed by The Union Guitar Trio.  Used with permission of the artists.Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUDUnion Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833Sound Effects:BBC News November 9th, 1989: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjNz1lvXgzUwood hit low glass bowl 3.mp3 by ascap -- https://freesound.org/s/242388/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0Brightness by sonically_sound -- https://freesound.org/s/632762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

PUBLIC POLICY NETWORKS AND ‘WICKED PROBLEMS’: A NASCENT SOLUTION?

The last two decades have seen a shift in public services organizations from hierarchies to networks. Network forms are seen as particularly suited to handling ‘wicked problems'. We make an assessmen...

The Good Governance Playbook

Why we can’t run an organization solely on good intentions.

Distinguishing Labor from Work · Aaron Ross Powell

We should get rid of the former, if we can, but we should absolutely keep the latter.

Because coordination is expensive

If you’ve ever worked at a larger organization, stop me if you’ve heard (or asked!) any of these questions: “Why do we move so slowly as an organization? We need to figure out how…

Against optimization

One of the most inescapable edicts when leading a team is the order to optimize the system towards the organization’s goals.

Leadership fails, leadership failures, leaders fail

Leadership fails because leaders fail to connect with each team member in a meaningful way. Leadership failures can have a profound effect on the company.

Guild statement on more layoffs at the L.A. Times — L.A. Times Guild - Los Angeles Times Guild

We still believe in the Los Angeles Times and the important role it plays in our community. It is difficult to carry out our mission when our staff has been cut year after year. But we will continue to report and we will continue to fight — for our members, our readers, our subscribers and our city.

Distinguishing Labor from Work - Aaron Ross Powell

We should get rid of the former, if we can, but we should absolutely keep the latter.

The loss of staff belonging in higher education

Nick Hulbert-Williams argues that what looks like low morale and change fatigue in HE may really be a crisis of belonging