Trivial
Parkinson’s Law of Triviality is the tendency for individuals and organizations to over-focus on trivial problems while ignoring or devoting few resources to far more serious problems.
The Law of Triviality is based on the mythic story about a leadership team charged with discussing two investments: a nuclear power plant and a bike shed. The committee chose to spend more time discussing the bike shed to their great detriment.
Ridiculous, right? Except that it happens in every company I’ve ever worked with, including my own. We live in a culture that is driving us to simplification, convenience, and what is easy.
It is why we play video games instead of fighting for what really matters in life.
It is why we watch adventure television instead of pursuing real adventure.
It is why so many turn to pornography instead of investing in the deep intimacy and connection that comes from real relationships.
We focus on the trivial and avoid the essential. An author I love calls these the “less wild lovers of our soul.” We want to find real adventure, fight for what really matters, and pursue true love and intimacy. We settle for far less. And in a similar way, we admire our biggest problems and spend our days grinding on the less important ones that never result in real change.
When we start working with clients, we go through an exaggerated process to brainstorm all issues and challenges, filter them to get to the most important ones, and then summarize the list into the essential few items. And the teams are never surprised by the results. There is sort of a “duh” moment, but there is also a collective conviction about those few things and a renewed hyper focus to get them resolved.
And that is important because we all have a master’s degree in bike-shedding and have a natural predisposition to not want to deal with the nuclear power plant. Real organizational change comes from identifying, discussing, and solving our “nuclear power plant” issues.
If you somehow survived this last economic cycle, you likely had to pivot in some way. You had to simplify, reinvent, and possibly even shift to a start-up mentality. This next year is not going to be easy either.
You had better be really clear on the essential few things that you must focus on and resolve.
You had better have a team that is equally clear and focused on resolving the same issues.
You had better build a clear strategic plan around resolving those issues.
And this is the time of year to be doing that sort of thing. The next 12 or so months hold infinite possibilities. We often say that everyone arrives somewhere, but very few people arrive somewhere on purpose. And far more than most leaders realize, you have a greater ability to determine where you arrive than you believe.
Consider
How much time are you and your leadership team spending on the bike shed?
Do you clearly know what your “nuclear power plant” issues are?
Is your team clear, convicted, and focus on those essential few things?
Do you have a plan to resolve them?