Parkinson's Law

QUOTE

Michael Altshuler once said…

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.”

CONCEPT

Parkinson's Law

Parkinson's Law states that the amount of work required to complete a task will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion. In other words, if a task is given more time, it will take longer to finish, often due to increased complexity, procrastination, or inefficiencies.

Understanding Parkinson's Law can help individuals and organizations become more productive by identifying inefficiencies and optimizing time management. By setting shorter deadlines and breaking tasks into smaller, manageable parts, one can counteract the tendency for work to expand and instead focus on completing tasks efficiently and effectively.

STORY

Less Time Equals ... More Success?

In the early 20th century, the British civil service experienced a peculiar phenomenon. Between 1914 and 1928, the number of employees in the British Colonial Office increased dramatically, despite the fact that the British Empire was shrinking during this period.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a British historian and civil servant, sought to understand this paradox.

Parkinson observed that as the empire's responsibilities decreased, bureaucrats found ways to make their jobs appear more complex and essential. They created additional paperwork, held more meetings, and expanded their duties to fill the time available.

This phenomenon was not isolated to the British Colonial Office; Parkinson noticed similar patterns in other governmental departments and private organizations.

In 1955, Parkinson published an essay in The Economist, where he introduced the concept now known as Parkinson's Law. He humorously explained the phenomenon and suggested that organizations could reduce inefficiencies by carefully managing the time allocated for tasks.

One real-world example of Parkinson's Law in action can be found in the construction of the Empire State Building. This iconic skyscraper was completed in a remarkably short time, taking just 410 days from start to finish. The project's tight deadline forced workers and managers to be highly efficient and focused on the task at hand. By contrast, many modern construction projects with looser deadlines often suffer from delays and cost overruns due to inefficient use of time and resources.

When faced with ambitious goals, strict time constraints help individuals and organizations rise to the occasion and accomplish extraordinary feats.