Parkinson's Law Doesn't Apply to Software Teams
Parkinson’s law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” I’ve seen this principle cited to justify aggressive deadlines and micromanagement in software teams. But I don’t think it applies to engineering teams with healthy work cultures.
The Bedtime Analogy
My daughter’s bedtime routine is a perfect example of Parkinson’s law in action. Brushing teeth takes 2 minutes. But give her 10 minutes, and she’ll fill the extra time with distractions—playing with the water, making faces in the mirror, anything but finishing the task.
But here’s the thing: brushing teeth is a simple, finite task with a known completion state. Software development is creative work where time requirements are inherently unpredictable.
What Actually Happens on Good Teams
Developers with strong work ethic don’t stretch simple tasks to fill time. They complete finite tasks quickly, then ask “what’s next?”
The real issue I see isn’t laziness—it’s overload. Too many things are being asked of them. When everything is urgent, nothing is. Developers context-switch between priorities, and each task takes longer because focus is fragmented.
The Deadline Game
Deadlines create artificial priorities rather than reflecting actual business importance. Managers learn to game the system—pad estimates, declare fake urgencies, manufacture crises. As more managers manipulate deadlines, the deadlines become meaningless.
Everyone knows the “real” deadline is different from the stated deadline. Trust erodes. Planning becomes theater.
A Better Approach
The solution isn’t tighter deadlines or more pressure. It’s alignment.
Align everyone on priorities. Make the actual business importance visible. Trust your team to execute against real goals rather than artificial constraints.
This is harder than just setting aggressive deadlines. It requires honest conversations about what matters and why. But it’s the only approach that scales with a healthy engineering culture.
Originally published on LinkedIn