C. Northcote Parkinson
Inspired by his work in the British Civil Service, Parkinson penned two laws on bureaucracy which bear his name today:
- Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
- Simple decisions are more prone to pointless bickering than complex ones.
Some of Parkinson’s other observations are equally spot on:
- “An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals”
- “Officials make work for each other.”
- The total of those employed inside a bureaucracy rose by 5-7% per year “irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”
(inspired by a comment by biblio-bot on this article on cutting Harvard administrators)
