Kenny Malone
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
So you had psychologists and economists coming up with experiments in the laboratory to try and figure out if people would expand their work to fit changing deadlines.
It seemed like they actually did.
And then you had other people going out and trying to find Parkinson's law in the wild.
Meng and her colleagues have actually studied this.
And sure enough, they found that when they gave their subjects longer deadlines, they expanded the work to fit those deadlines.
And she says that by now, Parkinson's law has become a storied part of cubicle lore.
How do you fight Parkinson's law?
Well, she says there are a few ways.
First, you could shorten your deadlines.
Know something about that.
Second, you could offer a reward for fast task completion.
Are you asking us for a reward right now?
I'll give you all the money in my wallet.