The Bike-Shedding Effect

Have you ever had something so big to do that you end up doing everything else but that very thing instead? You know you must study but end up cleaning your desk instead.

This is called the bike-shedding effect; it is the tendency to devote a disproportionate amount of time to menial and trivial matters while leaving important matters unattended.

Trivial tasks are easier to comprehend and deliver a false sense of comfort when executed. If we are aware of it, a strategy meeting can spend more time on office requirements than on true strategic matters. This is because easy things are easier to start.

Please note that I emphasise the word ‘start’ because once you begin attending to the real matter, you will soon realise it was not as complex or challenging as you thought.

And even if it is challenging, it is still good you started because you now have more time to attend to it.

In other words, it will always be a win-win to attend to the things that make you hesitate.

The sudden urgency to clean your desk instead of studying is a flawed misallocation of time based on the perceived relative ease or comfort of the activity.

The bike-shedding effect is damaging because it causes a group to allocate its time on the small, simple components instead of the important, complex matters.

But take note, this comfort is deceptive and short-lived because once it expires, you will always be left with the looming complex issue that now has less time to be resolved.

There is no magic solution to this except being aware of it and forcefully attending to the bigger matter. Do yourself a favour and tackle the big issues first.

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