The Pizza Test for Productive Teams

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, once said a team should be small enough to feed with two pizzas… and honestly, I think he was onto something.

I’ve seen this play out firsthand. One time, we brought everyone into a project, every voice, every role, every “might be helpful” perspective. Each person had the same level of involvement and responsibility. And instead of momentum, we got murkiness. Morale dipped, ownership blurred, and conversations spiralled into commentary.

It wasn’t that people didn’t care about the project…they did. But with so many people in the mix, direction got fuzzy. Accountability drifted. And energy quietly slipped into side conversations instead of forward motion.

Since then, I’ve learned: more isn’t always better. Instead, a room filled with the right few people, clearly responsible, moving together… that’s where we can get true motion.

Also, just to make this supppeerrrrr clear –  this isn’t about downsizing your organisation, it’s about being intentional with who’s in the room.

So where were we? Ah…

The Two-Pizza Team

The key team size is one where you can share 2 pizzas, and everyone gets 1–2 slices. That’s somewhere between 4 to 6 if we’re hungry, or up to 8 if we’re polite (only if it’s reaallly necessary)

These are the people actually responsible for delivering the work. Not everyone who might touch it, advise on it, or be interested in the outcome. The two-pizza team is the group that shows up, makes decisions, and keeps things moving.

Others will still be involved. This isn’t about keeping people out – it’s about being clear on who needs to be in the room to keep things moving.

This group? They’re the engine. They take the idea and make it happen.

Decisions Get Made

Big teams often default to: “Let’s get everyone across it.”

Which sounds great… until you’ve got 12 people in a meeting, 3 of them are talking over each-other, 4 are scrolling on social media, one’s checking their emails, one didn’t even make it to the meeting, and the other 3 are in a group chat discussing lunch plans… utter chaos..

Small project teams are able to cut through this. You know who’s doing what. You know who decides. You know who’s staying back after the meeting to actually action things.

It’s not about gatekeeping, it’s about clarity.
There’s ownership. Accountability. And clear next steps, with people who are ready to run with them.

Collaboration Thrives

Smaller teams aren’t quieter. They’re louder in the right ways.

In a two-pizza team, it’s easier to:

• Share ideas

• Speak up

• Workshop in real time (instead of sending it to a committee)

You don’t need to cc a dozen people to feel collaborative…
You can just, collaborate.

Others can feed in, but your core group is, well…the core group.

Pivoting is Possible

Picture this: you’re trying to turn a cruise ship vs a speedboat.

One takes a committee, a coordinated signal chain, and several minutes. The other? A quick flick of the wrist.

When your team is small and close to the work, you can:

• Test things quickly

• Respond to new info without needing to present a 20-slide PowerPoint

• Make changes without losing momentum

No waiting on stakeholder sign-off.
No layers of approval sucking the air out of your timeline.

Small teams can go fast, because they’re built for it.

Ownership is Clearer

Big groups = blurred accountability.

You’ll hear:

“I thought someone else was doing that.”
“Wait, wasn’t that her job?”
“Ohhh I didn’t realise we were going ahead with that.”

It’s classic bystander effect. When there are too many people in the room, everyone assumes someone else will take the lead… or follow up… or finish the task. Clarity gets lost, and so does momentum. Things stall. Frustration builds.

Meanwhile, your two-pizza team has already made the call and kept it moving.

Feedback Loops are Faster

With fewer layers, you cut the lag between idea, feedback, action.

You can test something in the morning, get input by lunch, and refine by dinner.
You’re not waiting for a “weekly sync” to find out your idea missed the mark.

It’s not just agile in theory… it’s real-time iteration.

So… Should We Ditch Everyone Else?

Nope.

Subject matter experts? Important.
Stakeholders? Still need them.
Reviewers, mentors, contributors? Absolutely.

But if everyone is responsible, then no one really is.

That’s why defining a clear two-pizza team matters. Not to exclude people, but to focus the work…to create a small, mighty crew that actually gets the project across the line.

Loop others in as needed. Share updates. Ask for input.
But when it comes to the doing? Let the core team lead.

TL;DR

Projects don’t need a full-company all-hands.

They need a small team that’s clear on expectations and outcomes, and make it happen.

They need a two-pizza team.

So next time you’re starting something new, try asking:

Who needs to be in the room to move this forward, start to finish?

Then give them the autonomy (and the pizza) they need.
Trust the team.
And save a slice for the post-project celebration.