Parkinsons Law
The phrase ‘Parkinson’s Law’ was first coined by the British author and humorist, Cyril Northcote Parkinson. In his 1955 essay, ‘Parkinson’s Law or the Pursuit of Progress’ he formulated his theory of how work expands or contracts so as to fill the time available for its completion.
In summary, it is sometimes stated as ’work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’ and is generally accepted today as an energy conservation law of organizational behaviour.
Parkinson’s law essentially states that, work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. The theory suggests that in the absence of external constraints, each task or project will take up as much time as is given. As the amount of time allotted increases, efforts are expended to justify its completion within that time frame. In short, the longer the deadline, the more it will be delayed.
In the original essay, Parkinson used the example of a fleet of ships to explain his principle. He showed that by reducing the number of vessels, the naval staff was being kept busy managing the remaining ships, to such a degree that there was still roughly the same amount of administrative work overall as before.
According to Parkinson, this principle applies to any organization, public or private. He wrote: “expenditure rises to meet income.” To illustrate this point, Parkinson used government bureaucracy as an example: the number of bureaucratic personnel increased as the amount of overtaxed revenue increased. He noted that the bureaucracy tends to expand in an effort to justify its own existence.
This idea may be applied to any organization, be it a small business or a large corporation, a school, or any other type of organization. In each of these cases, as spending increases, personnel and resources increase in order to meet the demand. As resources increase, so does the workload, often leading to an unmanageable amount of work for the staff or organization to complete.
In addition, Parkinsons law can also be applied to personal life. If people are given a lot of free time, they fill it up with leisure activities, such as watching a movie or playing a video game. On the other hand, if they are given less free time, they are more likely to take advantage of it and focus more on their priorities.
The application of Parkinsons Law is not limited to institutional or organizational behaviour. It is applicable to individuals as well. Parkinson believes that people tend to spend their energy and time on tasks that will fill the amount of time available to complete them, suggesting that peoples approach to work and leisure activities changes depending on the amount of time at their disposal.
People often overestimate the amount of time they have to complete certain tasks and underestimate the amount of time needed to complete more complex activities. This, in turn, leads to inefficient use of their time and energy. By becoming aware of Parkinsons Law, individuals can better manage their time and resources and use them more efficiently.
In conclusion, Parkinsons law is a universal principle that is applicable to individuals, organizations and societies alike. It states that when given a certain amount of free time, people or organizations tend to fill it up with activities that consume the same amount of time. As a result, the available time is wasted and resources are inefficiently used. By becoming aware of Parkinsons Law, people can become better at managing their time and resources to get the most out of it.
