Law Of Triviality
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The law of triviality is
C. Northcote Parkinson Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller ''Parkinson's Law'' (1957), in which Parkinson advanced Parkinson's law, stating t ...
's 1957 argument that people within an organization commonly or typically give disproportionate weight to trivial issues. Parkinson provides the example of a fictional committee whose job was to approve the plans for a nuclear power plant spending the majority of its time on discussions about relatively minor but easy-to-grasp issues, such as what materials to use for the staff bicycle shed, while neglecting the proposed design of the plant itself, which is far more important and a far more difficult and complex task. The law has been applied to software development and other activities. The terms ''bicycle-shed effect'', ''bike-shed effect'', and ''bike-shedding'' were coined based on Parkinson's example; it was popularised in the Berkeley Software Distribution community by the Danish software developer
Poul-Henning Kamp Poul-Henning Kamp (; born 1966) is a Danish computer software developer known for work on various projects including FreeBSD and Varnish. He currently resides in Slagelse, Denmark. Involvement in the FreeBSD project Poul-Henning Kamp has been c ...
in 1999 and, due to that, has since become popular within the field of software development generally.


Argument

The concept was first presented as a corollary of his broader " Parkinson's law" spoof of management. He dramatizes this "law of triviality" with the example of a committee's deliberations on an atomic reactor, contrasting it to deliberations 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 f moneyinvolved." A reactor is so vastly expensive and complicated that an average person cannot understand it (see
ambiguity aversion In decision theory and economics, ambiguity aversion (also known as uncertainty aversion) is a preference for known risks over unknown risks. An ambiguity-averse individual would rather choose an alternative where the probability distribution of th ...
), so one assumes that those who work on it understand it. However, everyone can visualize a cheap, simple bicycle shed, so planning one can result in endless discussions because everyone involved wants to implement their own proposal and demonstrate personal contribution. After a suggestion of building something new for the community, like a bike shed, problems arise when everyone involved argues about the details. This is a metaphor indicating that it is not necessary to argue about every little feature based simply on having the knowledge to do so. Some people have commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is inversely proportional to the complexity of the change. The law of triviality is supported by behavioural research. People tend to spend more time on small decisions than they should, and less time on big decisions than they should. A simple explanation is that during the process of making a decision, one has to assess whether enough information has been collected to make the decision. If people make mistakes about whether they have enough information, they will tend to stop too early for big decisions. The reason is that big decisions require collecting information for a long time. It leaves more time to make a mistake (and stop) before getting enough information. Conversely, for small decisions, where people should stop early, they may continue to ponder for too long by mistake.


Related principles and formulations

There are several other principles, well-known in specific problem domains, which express a similar sentiment. Wadler's law, named for computer scientist
Philip Wadler Philip Lee Wadler (born April 8, 1956) is an American computer scientist known for his contributions to programming language design and type theory. He is the chair of Theoretical Computer Science at the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer ...
, is a principle which asserts that the bulk of discussion on programming-language design centers on syntax (which, for purposes of the argument, is considered a solved problem), as opposed to
semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comp ...
. 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
.


See also

*
Analysis paralysis Analysis paralysis (or paralysis by analysis) describes an individual or group process where overanalyzing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become "paralyzed", meaning that no solution or course of acti ...
*
Busy work Busy work (also known as make-work and busywork) is an activity that is undertaken to pass time and stay busy but in and of itself has little or no actual value. Busy work occurs in business, military and other settings, in situations where peop ...
*
Dunning–Kruger effect The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias whereby people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a certain type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge. Some researchers also include in th ...
* Fredkin's paradox *
Hofstadter's law Hofstadter's law is a self-referential adage, coined by Douglas Hofstadter in his book '' Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'' (1979) to describe the widely experienced difficulty of accurately estimating the time it will take to complet ...
* How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? *
Jevons paradox In economics, the Jevons paradox (; sometimes Jevons effect) occurs when technological progress or government policy increases the efficiency with which a resource is used (reducing the amount necessary for any one use), but the falling cost of ...
*
List of eponymous laws This list of eponymous laws provides links to articles on laws, principles, adages, and other succinct observations or predictions named after a person. In some cases the person named has coined the law – such as Parkinson's law. In other ...
*
Moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", us ...
*
Omission bias Omission bias is the phenomenon in which people prefer omission (inaction) over commission (action) and people tend to judge harm as a result of commission more negatively than harm as a result of omission. It can occur due to a number of process ...
*
Peter principle The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until ...
*
Procrastination Procrastination is the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so. The word has originated from the Latin word ''procrastinatus'', which itself evo ...
*
Narcissism of small differences In psychoanalysis, the narcissism of small differences (german: der Narzissmus der kleinen Differenzen) is the idea that the more a relationship or community shares commonalities, the more likely the people in it are to engage in interpersonal feud ...
* Sayre's Law * Snackwell effect *
Student syndrome ''Student syndrome'' refers to planned procrastination, when, for example, a student will only start to apply themselves to an assignment at the last possible moment before its deadline. This eliminates any potential safety margins and puts the ...
*
Time management Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. It involves of various demands upon a person relating to work, ...
* Time to completion *
Tyranny of small decisions The tyranny of small decisions is a phenomenon explored in an essay of the same name, published in 1966 by the American economist Alfred E. Kahn. The article describes a situation in which a number of decisions, individually small and insignifican ...
* Zero-risk bias


References


Further reading

* Karl Fogel, ''Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project'', O'Reilly, 2005, , "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, , p. 81 (see extract a
Internet Archive
* Bob Burton et al., ''Nuclear Power, Pollution and Politics'', Routledge, 1990, , p. ix (see extract a
Google Books
* Darren Chamberlain et al., ''Perl Template Toolkit'', O'Reilly, 2004, , p. 412 (see extract a
Google Books
* Donelson R. Forsyth, ''Group Dynamics'', Brooks/Cole, 1990, , p. 289 (see extract a
Internet Archive
* Henry Bosch, ''The Director at Risk: Accountability in the Boardroom'', Allen & Unwin, 1995, , p. 92 (see extract a
Google Books
* Brian Clegg, ''Crash Course in Personal Development'', Kogan Page, 2002, , p. 3 (see extract a
Google Books
* Richard M. Hodgetts, ''Management: Theory, Process, and Practice'', Saunders, 1979, , p. 115 (see extract a
Google Books
* ''Journal, v. 37–38 1975–1980'', Chartered Institute of Transport, p. 187 (see extract a
Google Books
* Russell D. Archibald, ''Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects'', John Wiley and Sons, 2003, , p. 37 (see extract a
Google Books
* Kishor Bhagwati, ''Managing Safety: A Guide for Executives'', Wiley-VCH, 2007, , p. 54 (see extract a
Google Books
* Jan Pen, ''Harmony and Conflict in Modern Society'', (Trans. Trevor S. Preston) McGraw–Hill, 1966 p. 195 (see extract a
Internet Archive
*
Derek Salman Pugh Derek Salman Pugh (31 August 1930 – 29 January 2015) was a British psychologist, business theorist and Emeritus Professor of International Management at the Open University, known for his work in the field of organisational development (OD), and ...
et al., ''Great Writers on Organizations'', Dartmouth, 1993, , p. 116 (see extract a
Google Books
* ''The Federal Accountant v. 13 (September 1963 – June 1964)'', Association of Government Accountants, Federal Government Accountants Association, Cornell University Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, p. 16 (see extract a
Google Books
* Al Kelly, ''How to Make Your Life Easier at Work'', McGraw–Hill, 1988, , p. 127 (see extract a
Google Books
* Henry Mintzberg, ''Power in and Around Organizations: Dynamic Techniques of Winning'', Prentice–Hall, 1983, , p. 75 (see extract a
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 a
Google Books
* Charles Hampden-Turner, ''Gentlemen and Tradesmen: The Values of Economic Catastrophe'', Routledge, 1983, , p. 151 (see extract a
Google Books


External links



* {{cite web , title = Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is? , url = http://bikeshed.com/ , work = Frequently Asked Questions for FreeBSD 7.X, 8.X, and 9.X , author-link = Poul-Henning Kamp , first = Poul-Henning , last = Kamp , publisher = FreeBSD , date = 2 October 1999 , access-date = 31 July 2012 Adages 1950s neologisms Triviality Organizational behavior