Parkinson’s Law
Have you ever been given two weeks to complete something that probably required two hours?
Read reflectionSeptember 2026 collection
Leadership · People · Everyday work
30 Days of Workplace Wisdom.
A name for the patterns you recognize. A fresh way to think about the work ahead.
Reflections by Roberto Zamora, Jr. on how people work, how teams function, and why good intentions do not always produce good results.
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01
Parkinson’s Law
Have you ever been given two weeks to complete something that probably required two hours?
Read the first reflectionSeptember 2026 · The complete collection
30 days. Thirty ideas.
Laws, principles, paradoxes, and mental models for thinking more clearly, making better decisions, and leading with greater awareness.
30 reflections
The Planning Fallacy
You know that project you were certain would take one week?
Read reflectionHofstadter’s Law
Have you ever added extra time to a project because you knew it would probably take longer than expected?
Read reflectionThe Pareto Principle
Think about everything you did last week.
Read reflectionThe Law of Diminishing Returns
Have you ever worked on something long enough that each new revision somehow made it worse?
Read reflectionLittle’s Law
Have you noticed that the more projects a team starts, the less it seems to finish?
Read reflectionHick’s Law
Have you ever opened a menu with so many options that you forgot what you wanted to eat?
Read reflectionOccam’s Razor
You receive a short email that simply says, “Please come see me.”
Read reflectionHanlon’s Razor
Someone leaves you off an email.
Read reflectionThe Dunning-Kruger Effect
Have you ever heard someone explain a complicated issue with complete confidence after learning about it fifteen minutes earlier?
Read reflectionThe Sunk Cost Effect
You have invested months in a project that clearly is not working.
Read reflectionThe Law of the Instrument
Give someone a hammer, and eventually every problem begins to look suspiciously like a nail.
Read reflectionGoodhart’s Law
Suppose an organization wants better customer service, so it starts measuring how quickly employees end each call.
Read reflectionCampbell’s Law
Imagine that one score determines funding, recognition, evaluation, and possibly someone’s future.
Read reflectionThe Law of Unintended Consequences
You solve one problem and accidentally create two new ones.
Read reflectionThe Pygmalion Effect
Think about the person who trusted you with something before you were completely certain you could do it.
Read reflectionThe Ringelmann Effect
A project needs help, so more people are added.
Read reflectionDiffusion of Responsibility
An important task is assigned to “the team.”
Read reflectionThe Peter Principle
Someone is excellent at their job, so the organization promotes them.
Read reflectionBrooks’s Law
A major project is behind schedule.
Read reflectionConway’s Law
Have you ever used a system that felt like five different departments built five different pieces and never spoke to one another?
Read reflectionGall’s Law
A team decides to improve a process.
Read reflectionChesterton’s Fence
You discover an old rule that seems completely unnecessary.
Read reflectionThe Abilene Paradox
Have you ever sat in a meeting where everyone agreed to something, even though nobody seemed particularly enthusiastic about it?
Read reflectionParkinson’s Law of Triviality
A meeting has three agenda items.
Read reflectionAmara’s Law
A new technology appears, and suddenly it is going to change everything by next Tuesday.
Read reflectionAshby’s Law of Requisite Variety
Imagine trying to solve every workplace problem with the same response.
Read reflectionDunbar’s Number
When an organization is small, everyone knows everyone.
Read reflectionThe Fundamental Attribution Error
Someone misses a deadline, and we call them careless.
Read reflectionFollett’s Law of the Situation
Two people disagree about what should happen next.
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