Parkinson's Law of Triviality

"Bicycle shed" and "Bike shed" redirect here. For the physical structure, see Shed.

Parkinson's Law of Triviality, also known as bikeshedding or the bicycle-shed example, is C. Northcote Parkinson's 1957 argument that organisations give disproportionate weight to trivial issues. Parkinson demonstrated this by contrasting the triviality of a bike shed to a nuclear reactor. Later, Poul-Henning Kamp applied the law to software development and introduced the colour of the bike shed as the proverbial trivial detail receiving disproportionate attention.

Argument

First mentioned in C. Northcote Parkinson's 1956 book Parkinson's law, and other studies in administration , the concept is presented in more depth in Parkinson's spoof of management, Parkinson's law. Parkinson dramatizes his Law of Triviality with a committee's deliberations on a nuclear power plant, contrasting it to deliberation on a bicycle shed. As he put it, "The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved." A nuclear reactor is used because it is so vastly expensive and complicated that an average person cannot understand it, so they assume that those working on it understand it. Even those with strong opinions often withhold them for fear of being shown to be insufficiently informed. On the other hand, everyone can visualize a bicycle shed, so planning one can result in endless discussions because everyone involved wants to add his or her touch and show that they have contributed.

Related principles and formulations

There are several other principles, well known in specific problem domains, which express a similar sentiment.

• In the context of programming language design, one encounters Wadler's law, named for computer scientist Philip Wadler. This principle asserts that the bulk of discussion on programming language design centers around syntax (which, for purposes of the argument is considered a solved problem), as opposed to semantics.
• Sayre's law is a more general principle, which holds (among other formulations) that "In any dispute, the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake"; many formulations of the principle focus on academia.

Further reading

• Karl Fogel, Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project, O'Reilly, 2005, ISBN 0596007590, "Bikeshed Effect" pp. 135, 261-268 (also online)
• Grace Budrys, Planning for the nation's health: a study of twentieth-century developments in the United States, Greenwood Press, 1986, ISBN 031325348X, p. 81 (see extract at Google Books)
• Bob Burton et al., Nuclear Power, Pollution and Politics, Routledge, 1990, ISBN 041503065X, p. ix (see extract at Google Books)
• Darren Chamberlain et al., Perl Template Toolkit, O'Reilly, 2004, ISBN 0596004761, p. 412 (see extract at Google Books)
• Donelson R. Forsyth, Group Dynamics, Brooks/Cole, 1990, ISBN 0534080103, p. 289 (see extract at Google Books)
• Henry Bosch, The Director at Risk: Accountability in the Boardroom, Allen & Unwin, 1995, ISBN 0729903257, p. 92 (see extract at Google Books)
• Brian Clegg, Crash Course in Personal Development, Kogan Page, 2002, ISBN 0749438320, p. 3 (see extract at Google Books)
• Richard M. Hodgetts, Management: Theory, Process, and Practice, Saunders, 1979, ISBN 0721647146, p. 115 (see extract at Google Books)
• Journal, v. 37-38 1975-1980, Chartered Institute of Transport, p. 187 (see extract at Google Books)
• Russell D. Archibald, Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, ISBN 0471265578, p. 37 (see extract at Google Books)
• Kishor Bhagwati, Managing Safety: A Guide for Executives, Wiley-VCH, 2007, ISBN 3527609598, p. 54 (see extract at Google Books)
• Jan Pen, Harmony and Conflict in Modern Society, McGraw-Hill, 1966 p. 195 (see extract at Google Books)
• Derek Salman Pugh et al., Great Writers on Organizations, Dartmouth, 1993, ISBN 1855213834, p. 116 (see extract at Google Books)
• The Federal Accountant v. 13 (9/63-6/64), Association of Government Accountants, Federal Government Accountants Association, Cornell University Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, p. 16 (see extract at Google Books)
• Al Kelly, How to Make Your Life Easier at Work, McGraw-Hill, 1988, ISBN 0070340153, p. 127 (see extract at Google Books)
• Henry Mintzberg, Power in and Around Organizations: Dynamic Techniques of Winning, Prentice-Hall, 1983, ISBN 0136868576, p. 75 (see extract at Google Books)
• The Building Services Engineer v.40 1972-1973, Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (Great Britain), Chartered Institution of Building Services (see extract at Google Books)
• Charles Hampden-Turner, Gentlemen and Tradesmen: The Values of Economic Catastrophe, Routledge, 1983, ISBN 0710095791, p. 151 (see extract at Google Books)

External links

• "Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?" (FreeBSD FAQ)
• unixguide.net source for above (alternative copy)
• http://bikeshed.com Further explanation of above.