What do birthdays, coin flips, and endless Zoom calls have in common? More than you’d think.

In this episode, Chris and Toby unpack the famous Birthday Paradox—how just 23 people in a room give you a 50% chance of a shared birthday—and connect it to something every business leader struggles with: complexity.

Why do we keep pulling more people into meetings, projects, and decisions—when more often, less is more? From the days of skunkworks teams in the 90s to today’s bloated virtual calls, we explore:

• Why our intuition about “more voices = better outcomes” often fails.
• How meetings became overstuffed and under-productive post-COVID.
• The role of clarity, purpose, and decision rights in cutting through process debt.
• What Toyota’s culture and even backyard deck builders can teach us about lean, effective collaboration.

If you’ve ever sat through a meeting wondering “why am I here?”—this one’s for you.