Parkinson's Law

Brooks's Law: Adding People to a Late Project Makes It Later

The obvious response to a slipping deadline is more people. Output falls first, because the only people who can train them are the ones already behind — and coordination grows with the square of the team.

Parkinson's Law: The Deadline Decides the Duration

A two-page report takes a week if you have a week and a month if you have a month, and comes out about the same. Where the extra time goes is more interesting than the fact that it vanishes.