Jamie Dimon runs JPMorgan’s 300,000 employees—but says it beats rivals by fighting in Navy SEAL-sized teams

In his annual shareholder letter, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon argued that the company's most significant challenges are best addressed by smaller, highly focused teams. Despite having over 300,000 employees worldwide, Dimon stated that the most effective approach to problem-solving is to assign tasks to dedicated teams of no more than a few individuals. He likened the ideal team to Navy SEALs or Delta Force, emphasizing their ability to move quickly and make decisions independently.

Dimon explained that when a task represents only 1% of an employee's job, the individual's performance suffers compared to when they are fully focused on the objective. He cited a 1910 study by French agricultural engineer Max Ringelmann, which found that individuals pull with greater force when working alone than when part of a group. This phenomenon, known as "social loafing," was further explored by researchers at Ohio State University in 1979, who discovered that individual effort decreases as group size increases.

Dimon attributed the issue of social loafing to a range of psychological factors, including the expectation that teammates will compensate for one's efforts, lower personal goals when help is available, and diminished individual accountability due to lack of separate evaluation or reward. To combat this problem, Dimon advocated for restoring individual responsibility within groups.

The CEO's approach aligns with the strategies employed by other tech leaders. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos implemented a "two pizzas" rule, ensuring that teams could be fed by two pizzas to maintain manageable size. In 2023, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reduced the company's workforce by laying off thousands and streamlining management structure, which he claimed increased the company's speed.

In the era of artificial intelligence, tech companies are increasingly downsizing while expecting performance to remain consistent or improve. For instance, blockchain startup Block recently laid off 40% of its workforce, citing the progress of AI tools.