You can live, go to work, create large companies or conduct small business without knowing what Parkinson's laws are, but this does not mean that they do not work at this very time. They are universal and apply to everything in life - from organizing bureaucratic apparatuses to tax tricks, saving energy and creating a strong family or a successful business.
Cyril Parkinson formulated them. Parkinson's laws became a bestseller in the middle of the 20th century, but it seems to be relevant at all times and in any countries.
Biography of Cyril Parkinson
Cyril Norton Parkinson was born into a creative family where his father was an artist and his mother was a music teacher. This happened on July 30, 1909. Having been educated at St. Peter in Yorkshire, he chose to specialize in history at Cambridge College Emmanuel, where he received his master's degree in 1932.
In 1935, he received a doctorate in philosophy, defending a dissertation on the trade of England in the eastern seas in 1803-1910. He travels a lot, and from 1938 to 1940 he was engaged in teaching activities.
From 1940 to 1945 he served in the military, and after demobilization he became a professor of history at the University of Liverpool. From 1950 to 1958, Cyril held a professorship at the University of Malaya , Singapore. At the same time, he wrote the book "The Laws of Parkinson", which was originally a series of satirical articles for the journal "Economist", later included in the book itself.
In 1960, Cyril Parkinson retired, settled on one of the Channel Islands and spent his free time writing novels, plays, books on business and management, sailing and painting. On March 9, 1993, Cyril Parkinson died in Canterbury.
Parkinson's Law I
Parkinsonās first law is suitable for people who want to be effective and manage to do as many productive actions as possible, especially when it comes to developing their own business.
It sounds like this: "Work takes time allotted to it." You can interpret it from the perspective of both self-employed people and those who are building their own business or are engaged in their favorite hobby. Depending on the sphere of human activity, he has various approaches for implementation.
The first law from the position of an employee or a bureaucrat is interpreted in such a way that the allotted time for performing a task will take this particular time and will correspond to the complexity that fits this time frame.
This means that if a business can be done in 2-3 hours, and 2-3 days are allocated for its implementation, then it will become so complicated that it will be completed within these deadlines.
The same business, which was allocated only 2 hours of work, will be simplified enough to be completed on time. The law has the following conclusion - if it is just as much time to devote to each case as is really required for its implementation, then it will always be completed on time.
The negative side of the first law works only for those who are not used to setting real terms and do not even try to analyze how much time this or that task can be done. The result is constant rush-offs or delaying simple and quick-to-do business.
The application of the law of personal effectiveness for an employee is to do the job quickly, and devote the remaining working time to what one likes, pretending to be very busy.
Parkinson's Second Law
Parkinsonās laws concern not only the personal effectiveness or growth of the bureaucratic apparatus, but also the financial side of every personās life. Parkinsonās second law is as follows: āCosts tend to equal income.ā
This law shows: how quickly a personās income grows, so does the payment of his tax. The bureaucratic tax system is designed so that a person, increasing his earnings even many times, remains at the same financial level as before the increase in income.
3 parkinson's law
Parkinsonās third law is: āGrowth leads to complexity, and complexity leads to the end of the path.ā This applies to all spheres of human life, when they are in the development stage.
As soon as growth begins in some sphere, problems of a new level always follow it. For example, a man opened his own small business, in which he worked. At the same time, the level of income and expenses concerns only himself, as well as the relationship with the tax inspector.
Things went "uphill", he began to expand his production and hired workers. The level of complexity has grown in proportion to business growth. Workers need to pay a salary, provide a social package, give leave, report to the tax inspector at a different interest rate.
Parkinson's laws are always proven by life itself. The entrepreneurās small business has become a financial empire, along with which problems have grown - the board of directors, the board of shareholders, the labor union, social benefits, the bloated bureaucratic apparatus and much more.
There are many examples in the history of entrepreneurship when giant corporations ceased to exist after their maximum growth and complexity of the management structure.
Every company, like every entrepreneur, should know that the fall will certainly be after a big growth. This is normal, you just need to be prepared for this. Find alternative working methods, create additional sources of income or something else.
Bureaucracy law
Parkinson's laws regarding the bureaucratic apparatus are not in doubt and do not require evidence. An example of this is the organization of various legislative offices in any country in the world.
According to the author, the cabinet, consisting of 5 members, is considered the most effective, since they are easy to put together, four of them know their job for sure, and one may not know anything, so itās suitable for the role of chairman.
But as history shows, a small cabinet was created each time in each country, but after a year or two it increased, then again and again, until it collapsed, and it all started all over again.
This is especially significant for the example of the English House of Lords, which in its original form around 1600 had 20 members, which gradually led to 850 in 1952. Each time, small āsub-cabinetsā, secret cabinets, councils and the like bureaucratic structures were organized inside the cabinet.
The laws of the Parkinson bureaucracy look like a formula for identifying the coefficient of futility of the bureaucracy.
Parkinson's laws for women
Mrs. Parkinsonās laws deal with more everyday things, such as romance and marriage, driving a car and arranging a joint family ānestā.
The book has nothing to do with the authorās wife, about which he warns readers in the preface to her. Written with a great sense of humor, the main book is somewhat sad - people are so preoccupied with materialism and home improvement that they poorly understand how to actually raise children and on what foundations a strong marriage is created and held.
Parkinson's laws for women also apply to moments when women are in a stressful situation, and their passions are aimed at destroying everything that comes in their way.
The first law is that the warmth of an object engaged in the performance of everyday household chores gradually rises until it is āsplashed outā onto another, more cold-blooded subject.
The second law says that you canāt run headlong to the phone if very important work is being done at this moment.
The third law is the advice to never make decisions until the passions have cooled, and the mind will again be able to perceive reality sensibly.
Parkinson and the stock market
Parkinsonās laws on the stock market relate primarily to familiar amounts and read: āThe time spent discussing an item is inversely proportional to the amount considered.ā The law is based on the division of people on the planet into 2 types: those who have a million, and those who do not.
Millionaires are used to big numbers, but there are far more people in the world who have thousands. Such people usually consist of various financial committees, which, considering an application for a project of $ 100, will require a certificate for each cent spent and challenge the legality of their use. They can allocate millions to other projects, without even arguing hoarsely about the appropriateness of these investments.
Tips for entrepreneurs
Parkinsonās books do not reveal the āsecretsā of how to build a successful business or create a billion-dollar corporation. They are aimed at explaining how a business cannot be built.
If we take the book "Parkinsonās Law", a brief summary of which deals with issues of personal effectiveness and the proper distribution of human resources, then one of its important sections is 100 tips for entrepreneurs.
Some of these tips focus on the human communication skills that any business is based on. There are also recommendations on how to be an effective leader for others and for yourself. If you put them into practice, then any business will quickly turn into a profitable business.
Practical application of laws
Although Cyril Parkinson wrote his laws in a playful and ironic manner, they contain serious factors that affect human life, the development of personal relationships, financial success, and the realization of people's creative and mental potential.
They were relevant for the 60s of the last century, and will be applicable in the XXI century. Since then, technology has improved, but the psychology of the employee, bureaucrat or entrepreneur has remained the same. Using Parkinsonās laws, you can achieve results in any business much faster.