In every project, there’s a moment where discussions get stuck on something seemingly trivial—like the color of the bike shed, to borrow a metaphor from management lore. It’s called bike-shedding, and it happens because small, accessible decisions feel more comfortable than tackling complex, high-stakes issues.

While the metaphor originated in the context of decision-making inefficiencies, it holds a mirror up to a deeper problem in leadership: losing focus on priorities that drive real progress.

What Is Bike-Shedding, and Why Does It Happen?

The term comes from Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, which suggests that people will spend disproportionate time on trivial issues because they’re easier to grasp than the core challenges of a project. It's easier for a group to agree on the color of a bike shed than debate the specs for a nuclear reactor.

In modern workplaces, bike-shedding might look like:

• Endless debates over the design of a button while ignoring a product's overall usability.
• Overthinking small team perks instead of addressing systemic burnout.
• Spending hours perfecting a meeting agenda while avoiding the difficult discussions it’s meant to address.

This phenomenon isn’t just about misplaced attention; it’s about avoiding discomfort. Tackling the big issues often requires navigating ambiguity, making unpopular decisions, or facing the risk of failure.

Spotting the Bike-Shed

Leaders need to recognize the signs of bike-shedding:

• Disproportionate enthusiasm for small decisions. If minor issues dominate your meeting agendas, it’s time to redirect focus.
• Frequent refactoring of systems or interfaces that aren't going to be seen by customers
• "Guessing and second-guessing" what the customer wants or needs, without decent guiding data points
• Complexity avoidance. When progress on major initiatives stalls, ask: Are we retreating to what feels “safe”?

Breaking the Cycle

Here’s how to prevent bike-shedding from derailing your team:

1. Anchor to Goals. Tie every discussion back to the broader objectives. If a topic doesn’t directly advance your goals, question its relevance.
2. Limit Discussion Time. Cap discussions on minor decisions. Quick wins keep momentum, but protracted debates on trivial matters waste energy.
3. Empower Decision-Makers. Assign ownership to capable individuals for small decisions. Letting go of control allows you to focus on high-impact areas.
4. Lead with Clarity. As a leader, model decisiveness. If you signal that bike-shedding is acceptable, the team will follow suit.
5. Create Psychological Safety. Fear of criticism can lead teams to bike-shed. Foster an environment where tackling the big stuff feels rewarding, not risky.

What do we do about the small stuff though?

As a leader, your role is to steer your team toward meaningful outcomes—not get stuck in the weeds. Whether you're building products, managing teams, or setting strategy, staying above bike-shedding means focusing your energy where it matters most.

So what do we say to the objections that "this just needs to be done" when a trivial task or issue comes up - especially one with a vocal champion?

I always dealt with with this by asking:

• What customer or business goal does this help us towards?
• What happens if we don't do it?
• Can we not do it?
• If we have to, what's the quickest way we can get it done, or decide what to do?

If something absolutely has to be done, but is still relatively trivial, this at least focuses everyone's perspective on its relative importance.

Ask yourself and your team: What is the one big thing we can do today that will drive us closer to our goals?

By resisting the attraction of trivial decisions and focusing on things that directly affect your customers and your main goals, and keeping the whole group focused on the same things, the group will tend to recognize bike-shedding on its own - rather than need to be pulled away from it.

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