The stakeholder accumulation law

28 Apr, 2025

Have you ever wondered why projects that start with clear objectives and reasonable timelines so often spiral out of control? It's a phenomenon I've observed time and again across industries, teams and organisations of all sizes. Today, I'd like to introduce you to what I call the Stakeholder Accumulation Law.

This law states that:

For a project that begins with N participants, the addition of M stakeholders/decision-makers over time increases the project timeline by a factor proportional to (N+M)/N × log(N+M)/log(N).

What does this mean in practice? Simply put, when a project that starts with 5 people gradually accumulates an additional 10 stakeholders, the timeline doesn't just triple as you might expect. According to the formula, it increases by a factor of about 3.6. Your 3-month project has just become a 10.8-month journey.

Not just another management principle

You might be thinking this sounds similar to Brooks's Law from "The Mythical Man-Month" which states that "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." While related, the Stakeholder Accumulation Law differs in several crucial ways:

1. It focuses on decision-makers and approvers rather than workers
2. It accounts for gradual accumulation over time rather than a single influx
3. It quantifies the impact mathematically rather than just describing it qualitatively
4. It applies across all project types, not just software development

Unlike the Ringelmann Effect or Social Loafing, which describe productivity drops in individual contributors, the Stakeholder Accumulation Law specifically addresses the decision-making bottleneck that occurs when too many people have a say.

Understanding the equation for non-mathematicians

Let's break down what this equation actually means in simple terms:

Timeline Factor = (N+M)/N × log(N+M)/log(N)

Where:

• N = Your initial team size
• M = Additional stakeholders added over time
• Timeline Factor = How much longer your project will take

The first part, (N+M)/N, represents the simple linear increase you might expect. If you start with 5 people and add 5 more, that's 10/5 = 2, suggesting the project might take twice as long.

The second part, log(N+M)/log(N), accounts for the increased complexity of communication and decision-making. This grows more slowly than a linear relationship, which reflects reality - adding the 20th stakeholder doesn't have quite the same impact as adding the 6th.

When you multiply these factors together, you get a more accurate prediction of how your timeline will stretch.

Why does this happen?

Several mechanisms feed into this timeline expansion:

• Each additional stakeholder introduces their own approval cycles
• New stakeholders often bring new requirements or constraints
• Communication pathways grow exponentially (n(n-1)/2)
• Decision-making becomes more political as stakeholder groups form
• Documentation and reporting overhead grows to satisfy all parties

Most dangerously, this accumulation tends to happen gradually, making it difficult to notice until the project is hopelessly behind schedule.

How to combat stakeholder accumulation

The solution isn't to exclude valuable input, but to manage it strategically:

1. Define stakeholder roles clearly at project inception
2. Create a stakeholder management plan with explicit decision rights
3. Implement a "one in, one out" policy for new stakeholders
4. Use a representative model where one person speaks for a department
5. Establish formal stage gates for feedback rather than continuous input

By anticipating stakeholder accumulation before it happens, you can protect your timeline while still incorporating essential perspectives.

Testing the law with hypothetical examples

Let's see how this formula might play out in different scenarios:

• A marketing campaign that grows from 3 to 6 stakeholders: predicted 2.5x increase
• A product launch that goes from 7 to 12 decision-makers: predicted 2.1x increase
• A policy implementation that expands from 4 to 10 approvers: predicted 3.2x increase

These may seem modest at first glance, but consider what a 2.5x increase means in practical terms: your 4-week campaign now takes 10 weeks to complete. That's the difference between launching in January or waiting until March.

The formula isn't perfect. It doesn't account for varying levels of stakeholder influence or organisational maturity. But as a rule of thumb, it provides a sobering reality check for project planning.

The quiet drain on innovation

Perhaps the most insidious effect of stakeholder accumulation is how it stifles innovation. Bold ideas get watered down through consensus. Risk-taking diminishes as more reputations become tied to the outcome. Speed, often crucial for market advantage, evaporates.

This may explain why small startups frequently outmanoeuvre larger organisations despite having fewer resources. Their stakeholder count remains low, enabling rapid decision-making and execution.

Next time you're planning a project, consider applying the Stakeholder Accumulation Law proactively. Calculate the potential timeline impact of each new decision-maker you add. Ask yourself if their input is truly essential or if there are more efficient ways to incorporate their perspective.

Remember that every voice added to the conversation increases not just the volume, but the complexity and duration of the discussion.

Paucis melior est quam multis.

#entrepreneurship #product