Parkinson’s Law
Summary
Section titled “Summary”Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Origin
Section titled “Origin”Cyril Northcote Parkinson, The Economist (1955).
Still Applicable?
Section titled “Still Applicable?”Yes. Drives a need for timeboxing, clear goals, and outcome-based planning.
Context Notes
Section titled “Context Notes”This law serves as a warning about open-ended work. Teams without time pressure often drift into gold-plating or over-engineering. Effective engineering leaders use timeboxing and constraints to drive focus and urgency