Parkinson’s law of triviality
E656396
adage
cognitive bias description
management theory concept
organizational behavior concept
sociological concept
Parkinson’s law of triviality is the adage that people in organizations tend to give disproportionate attention and time to trivial issues while neglecting more important, complex matters.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
adage
ⓘ
cognitive bias description ⓘ management theory concept ⓘ organizational behavior concept ⓘ sociological concept ⓘ |
| addresses |
inefficient collective decision-making
ⓘ
misallocation of attention in organizations ⓘ organizational focus on low-stakes details ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | bikeshedding ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
academic committees
ⓘ
boards ⓘ committees ⓘ corporate meetings ⓘ nonprofit organizations ⓘ online communities ⓘ public administration ⓘ software development teams ⓘ |
| coinedBy | C. Northcote Parkinson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| coreIdea |
discussion time is inversely related to the importance or cost of the issue
ⓘ
group members avoid complex topics that require expertise or effort ⓘ people feel more comfortable discussing simple topics they understand ⓘ |
| describedIn | the book "Parkinson’s Law, and Other Studies in Administration" NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| describes |
disproportionate attention to simple, low-impact matters
ⓘ
neglect of complex, high-impact issues in group discussions ⓘ tendency of groups to spend excessive time on trivial issues ⓘ |
| field |
behavioral economics
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
management science ⓘ organizational theory ⓘ social psychology ⓘ |
| goal |
encourage focus on high-impact decisions
ⓘ
highlight wasteful use of collective time ⓘ |
| hasExample |
board focusing on parking layout instead of financial risk
ⓘ
committee debating coffee quality more than budget allocation ⓘ team arguing over logo color instead of product strategy ⓘ |
| illustratedBy | example of a committee spending more time on a bike shed than on a nuclear reactor ⓘ |
| influenced |
discourse on productivity in organizations
ⓘ
popular discussions of "bikeshedding" in software engineering ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1957 ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Parkinson’s law
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
analysis paralysis ⓘ decision-making bias ⓘ groupthink ⓘ law of triviality NERFINISHED ⓘ meetings management ⓘ status quo bias NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| usedAs |
argument for agenda prioritization
ⓘ
argument for timeboxing discussions ⓘ critique of inefficient meetings ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.