Parkinsons Law

Parkinson's Law: "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

Parkinson's Law first appeared in an article by C. Northcote Parkinson in The Economist in 1955 (later published in his the book Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress; London, John Murray, 1958). Based on reviewing the British Civil Service, his scientific observations showed that as Britain's overseas empire declined in importance, the number of employees at the Colonial Office increased.

He described two forces that contributed to this growth in staff numbers:

• "An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals"
• "Officials make work for each other."

Parkinson also proposed a rule about the efficiency of administrative councils. He defined a coefficient of inefficiency with the number of members as the main determining variable.