The Bike-shedding Effect, also known as the Law of Triviality, was first introduced by Cyril Northcote Parkinson. Parkinson was a British naval historian and author who became famous for his satirical writings on bureaucracy and management.

In his writings, Parkinson presented the fictional example of a committee tasked with approving plans for a nuclear power plant. Based on his own experiences, he imagined that the committee would spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing the materials for the staff bike shed while giving barely any attention to the far more complex and important plans for the nuclear reactor. This anecdote illustrates how groups tend to focus on trivial issues that are easy to understand and discuss, rather than discussing more complex and more important matters.

His insights weren’t based on a single observation but on his own experience with bureaucracies and committees. He noticed this pattern repeatedly in various organizations he was a part of, which led him to formulate the principle.

The concept of bike shedding gained traction in management and organizational behavior studies because it resonated with many people’s own experiences in meetings and decision-making processes.

Interestingly, the bike shedding Effect is just one of several observations Parkinson made about organizational behavior. His most famous principle is Parkinson’s Law, which states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

On software teams, the Bike-shedding Effect can greatly impact productivity and decision-making. Design teams might obsess over minor aesthetic choices while neglecting more complex and critical user journeys. Product managers might get caught up in discussions about feature names instead of focusing on core strategy. Engineering teams might debate code formatting (tabs or spaces anyone?) overlooking critical architecture decisions.

The effect can also hurt team dynamics by creating a false sense of productivity and potentially straining interpersonal relationships. Team members who consistently bring up trivial matters might be perceived as unproductive, while those trying to refocus discussions might be seen as dismissive.

To combat Bike-shedding, teams should develop awareness of this tendency and implement strategies to keep discussions focused on high-priority issues. This might involve setting clear agendas, allocating time-based on topic importance, or designating facilitators to guide conversations effectively.