When I was adjunct faculty at my community college, I would explain to my students about “Murphy’s Law” (anything can and will go wrong) which they were familiar with. But then I told them about “Golds’ Law” (my last name). If you have two weeks to do an assignment, you know how long it takes? Two weeks. If you have two nights to do the same assignment, it will take two nights. But the caveat is that the results of these assignments will likely not be the same.
So, I agree with your #2–however long you give a task to be completed, is what it will take. I think it’s just human nature.
I see the 80/20 Pareto Principal and the Parkinsons Law in retail quite often. Especially with freight where 80 percent of cartons flows out quickly in 20 percent of the time allotted, then the remaining 20 percent of cartons spreads to fill the 80 percent of time left.
Awesome list! Two other's that have been useful for me:
Occam’s Razor - If two stories explain it... pick the simpler one.
Hanlon’s Razor - Don’t jump to malice when stupidity fits.
Great additions - I love Occam's Razor too, and wrote a deep-dive recently: https://read.thegoodboss.com/p/your-team-doesnt-need-more-process
I love the accompanying graphics, good list!
When I was adjunct faculty at my community college, I would explain to my students about “Murphy’s Law” (anything can and will go wrong) which they were familiar with. But then I told them about “Golds’ Law” (my last name). If you have two weeks to do an assignment, you know how long it takes? Two weeks. If you have two nights to do the same assignment, it will take two nights. But the caveat is that the results of these assignments will likely not be the same.
So, I agree with your #2–however long you give a task to be completed, is what it will take. I think it’s just human nature.
I see the 80/20 Pareto Principal and the Parkinsons Law in retail quite often. Especially with freight where 80 percent of cartons flows out quickly in 20 percent of the time allotted, then the remaining 20 percent of cartons spreads to fill the 80 percent of time left.
Great list! One thing about the Amara’s Law. I learned that one from BillG at Microsoft. Are you sure about attribution?
Thanks Bruno, I’ll double check on that
Awesome summary. Thanks for bringing these all together in one place. I have this article saved.
Great summary.