Parkinsons Law

What Hacker News says

1. WalterBrightDec 2024
   C Northcote Parkinson wrote more books on how economics works. They're well worth reading.

   https://www.amazon.com/Parkinsons-Law-C-Northcote-Parkinson/...

   https://www.amazon.com/Law-Profits-Cyril-Northcote-Parkinson...

   In-Laws & Outlaws (not on Amazon)

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2. tdullienSep 2020
   When I was 11 or 12, my father gave me a copy of “Parkinsons Law” (https://www.amazon.com/Parkinsons-Law-Pursuit-Progress-Busin...), explaining that this is the most important book on management I will ever read.

   I found it super entertaining.

   When I left Google in 2015 to go on sabbatical, I distributed 20 copies to various middle and upper-middle managers, mostly as friendly/jocular warning/admonishing.

   When I returned in 2016, it seemed that one half had gotten the joke, and the other half had used it as a manual.

   Either way: The linked article shows that the author has red-discovered Parkinson’s Law for himself.

   (I recommend y’all read the book)

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3. richeyrwJan 2013
   Parkinson's Law may be the greatest business book of all time. If you like business books and you haven't read it you're missing out on one of the true classics of the genre.

   http://www.amazon.com/Parkinsons-Law-C-Northcote-Parkinson/d...

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4. ablealMay 2010
   More amusing yet, both of those ignore (of course) transport overhead. In RS-232/dial-up days, that would be 20% worth of start/stop-bits (i.e. a byte of data requires 10 bits transmitted).

   For my purposes (not a network admin), I still figure on 10 bps = 1 byte/s. Easier, and usually close enough, what with packet headers and network burps. So, 100MB*10b/10Mbps = 100 s.

   P.S. just read OP's expansion on problem. I would recommend reading C.N.Parkinson's take on candidate search (ch. 5 of the Parkinson's Law book, e.g. http://www.02articles.com/read/parkinsons-law-chapter-5 ). If it does not actually help, at least you'll be amused.

   P.P.S. searching for the above link, found this also amusing testimonial from a satisfied user: http://direkobold.blogspot.com/2009/04/parkinsons-law-for-hi...

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5. readthenotes1Jan 2025
   Since you're downvote, this not be a popular view.

   It is the nature of bureaucracies to bloat, public or private, changing their aim from why they were originally created to self-propagation.

   _Systemantics_ (aka _The Systems Bible_) is a great read on the topic, surpassing even Parkinson's essays (and as easy to read)

   https://www.amazon.com/Systems-Bible-Beginners-Guide-Large/d...

   https://www.amazon.com/Parkinsons-Law-C-Northcote-Parkinson-...

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6. gaddersApr 2024
   This is called Parkinson's Law: https://www.economist.com/news/1955/11/19/parkinsons-law

   "To comprehend Factor I, we must picture a civil servant called A who finds himself overworked. Whether this overwork is real or imaginary is immaterial; but we should observe, in passing, that A’s sensation (or illusion) might easily result from his own decreasing energy—a normal symptom of middle-age. For this real or imagined overwork there are, broadly speaking, three possible remedies

   (1) He may resign.

   (2) He may ask to halve the work with a colleague called B.

   (3) He may demand the assistance of two subordinates, to be called C and D.

   There is probably no instance in civil service history of A choosing any but the third alternative. By resignation he would lose his pension rights. By having B appointed, on his own level in the hierarchy, he would merely bring in a rival for promotion to W’s vacancy when W (at long last) retires. So A would rather have C and D, junior men, below him. They will add to his consequence; and, by dividing the work into two categories, as between C and D, he will have the merit of being the only man who comprehends them both."

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