Parkinson’s Law & The Law of Triviality (Bike Shed Effect)

What is Parkinson’s Law and the Law of Triviality?

Our col­lect­ive engage­ment tends to be biased towards the under­stand­able, relat­able, and manageable.

This bias might have ser­i­ous implic­a­tions for intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions and com­mu­nic­at­ive lead­er­ship. As PR pro­fes­sion­als, we must observe “Communicative Discipline.”

So, what’s Parkinson’s Law?
And what’s the Law of Triviality?
And what do bike sheds have to do with anything?

Here we go:

The Bike Shed Story

Ponder the fol­low­ing story:

Once, a com­mit­tee was formed to over­see the con­struc­tion of a new nuc­le­ar power plant, a pro­ject of monu­ment­al import­ance and com­plex­ity. The com­mit­tee, com­posed of esteemed com­munity mem­bers, reviewed and approved the vari­ous aspects of the plant’s design.

The day came for a cru­cial meet­ing, and the com­mit­tee gathered in the town hall. The first item on the agenda was the nuc­le­ar react­or itself. The engin­eer presen­ted intric­ate plans and detailed safety pro­to­cols. However, the mem­bers, not well-versed in nuc­le­ar phys­ics, were over­whelmed by the tech­nic­al jar­gon and com­plex dia­grams. Nods were exchanged, and without much dis­cus­sion, the plans for the react­or were approved.

Next on the agenda was a seem­ingly minor item: con­struct­ing a bike shed for the plant’s employ­ees. The moment the bike shed was men­tioned, the room buzzed to life. Everyone had an opin­ion! “What mater­i­al should we use for the shed?” one mem­ber asked. “Wood is too weak; it should be steel,” said anoth­er. “But steel is too costly and imper­son­al; how about a nice red brick?” chimed in a third.

The debate raged on. Members argued over the col­our, the style of the roof, and even the type of lock for the door. The con­ver­sa­tion went in circles, with every minute detail scru­tin­ized and delib­er­ated. Time ticked away, and the meet­ing that had swiftly approved a com­plex nuc­le­ar react­or spent hours on the bike shed.

As the sun set, the com­mit­tee finally agreed on the per­fect bike shed. They left the meet­ing feel­ing sat­is­fied and pro­duct­ive. Little did they real­ise they had fallen prey to Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, focus­ing their ener­gies on the trivi­al and under­stand­able. At the same time, the com­plex and truly sig­ni­fic­ant decision had passed by almost unnoticed.

The Law of Triviality

The story of the bike shed is based on a fic­tion­al com­mit­tee’s delib­er­a­tions about a nuc­le­ar power plant. 

The Law of Triviality (Bike Shed Effect, Bicycle-Shed Effect, and Bike-Shedding) argues that mem­bers of an organ­iz­a­tion give dis­pro­por­tion­ate weight to trivi­al issues — and that tasks will fill up their allot­ted time — how­ever long that amount of time be. It provides insight into intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions in com­plex organisations. 

British nav­al his­tor­i­an and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson describes how a com­mit­tee tasked with approv­ing plans for a nuc­le­ar power plant spends most of its time dis­cuss­ing rel­at­ively trivi­al and easy-to-grasp issues, such as what mater­i­als to use for a staff bike shed, rather than focus­ing on the more com­plex aspects of the nuc­le­ar power plant itself. ¹Law of tri­vi­al­ity. (2023, December 23). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​L​a​w​_​o​f​_​t​r​i​v​i​a​l​ity

The Bike Shed Effect is a meta­phor for the tend­ency of both organ­isa­tions and indi­vidu­als to give dis­pro­por­tion­ate weight to trivi­al issues while neg­lect­ing more import­ant ones. 

Parkinson’s Law

The obser­va­tion that work expands to fill the time avail­able for its com­ple­tion is known as Parkinson’s Law. Like The Law of Triviality, Parkinson’s Law was presen­ted by Parkinson in an art­icle for “The Economist” (1955) and later in his book “Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress” (1957). ²Parkinson, C. N. (1955, November 19). Parkinson’s Law. Time Magazine. ³Parkinson, C. N. (1957). Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress. John Murray.

Parkinson’s Law observes that as the amount of time alloc­ated to a task increases, the com­plex­ity and the level of bur­eau­cracy involved in the task also tend to increase. ⁴Parkinson’s law. (2023, December 23). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

In oth­er words, tasks essen­tially swell in per­ceived import­ance and com­plex­ity dir­ectly related to the time allot­ted for com­ple­tion. ⁵Descamps, Ambroise, Sébastien Massoni, and Lionel Page. (2021, March 29). Learning to Hesitate. SocArXiv. https://doi:10.31235/osf.io/6fa5q

The “swell­ing of tasks” is observed in intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions where atten­tion to minor details over­shad­ows more sig­ni­fic­ant mat­ters, usu­ally because the minor details are easi­er to under­stand and dis­cuss. ⁶Busy work. (2023, December 15). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​B​u​s​y​_​w​ork

Communicative Discipline in Organisations

Parkinson’s Law and The Law of Triviality high­light a human tend­ency to man­age time and effort in ways that aren’t always the most effi­cient but rather are influ­enced by the time per­ceived as available.

Here are five key learn­ings for intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tion and com­mu­nic­at­ive lead­er­ship based on Parkinson’s Law and the Law of Triviality: ⁷Silfwer, J. (2023, December 24). Parkinson’s Law & The Law of Triviality (Bike Shed Effect). Doctor Spin | the PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​p​a​r​k​i​n​s​o​n​s​-​l​aw/

As a PR advisor, I refer to these prin­ciples as com­mu­nic­at­ive dis­cip­line. ¹¹Silfwer, J. (2023, December 24). Parkinson’s Law & The Law of Triviality (Bike Shed Effect). Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​p​a​r​k​i​n​s​o​n​s​-​l​aw/

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