The Articles - Parkinson
Forbes magazine's Peter Brimelow profiles C. Northcote Parkinson in "How do you cure injelitance?"
Parkinson created Parkinson's Law:
"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."
Parkinson, who died in 1993, understood bureaucracy:
"In 1914 Britain had the largest navy in the world, with 542 ships in commission, and the Admiralty had a staff of 4,366. At various points as the century wore on, the ships decreased in number and the staff expanded. By 1967, he later found, the Royal Navy had only 114 ships, most not truly capital, and had ceased to be a world force. But Admiralty staff had reached 33,574."
Enjoy the Forbes article from 1989.
Perhaps Parkinson's book, Parkinson's Law , is the book -- not counting the Bible -- that most influenced me . (I'm being sincere, here, if not entirely serious.) Never have so few pages explained so much. It should be required reading in high school.
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It is a great book.
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