Parkinson's Law of Triviality

This Law states that in organizations, notably in meetings and group discussions about projects, most time and attention (or certainly a disproportionately large effort) is given to trivial issues rather than important ones.
- C. Northcote Parkinson, 1957

Parkinson asserted that this effect is an inevitable 'law' or tendency within organizational behaviour. Parkinson provided the analogy of the relative attention given to the building of a nuclear reactor versus a bicycle shed. The nuclear reactor is regarded as a highly complex project, and a general assumption among group members is made that a suitably qualified person or team will make the right decisions about it, (which of course may not be the case). Most people choose not to invest time and effort in understanding such a challenging issue, and doubt their ability to make a useful contribution. Instead people largely prefer to focus on more accessible matters - crucially matters they can influence more easily - such as the design of the bikeshed.