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MURPHY'S LAWS
and Others Reasons Things Go Wrong
Page 8
COMMITTOLOGY
If you find errors on these pages... it's to be expected
Old and Kahn's Law:
The efficiency of a committee meeting is inversely proportional to the number of participants and the time spent on deliberations.
Shanahan's Law:
The length of a meeting rises with the square of the number of people present.
Hendricksonn's Law:
If a problem causes many meetings, the meetings eventually become more important than the problem.
Lord Falkland's Rule:
When it is not necessary to make a decision, it is necessary not to make a decision.
First Law of Committo-Dynamics:
Comitas comitatum, omnia comitas.
Second Law of Committo-Dynamics:
The less you enjoy serving on committees, the more likely you are to be pressed to do so.
Law of Triviality:
The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.
Fairfax's Law:
Any facts which, when included in the argument, give the desired result, are fair facts for the argument.
McNaughton's Rule:
Any argument worth making within the bureaucracy must be capable of being expressed in a simple declarative sentence that is obviously true once stated.
Truman's Law:
If you cannot convince them, confuse them.
Laws of Procrastination:
1. Procrastination shortens the job and places the responsibility for its termination on someone else (the authority who imposed the deadline).
2. It reduces anxiety by reducing the expected quality of the project from the best of all possible efforts to the best that can be expected given the limited time.
3. Status is gained in the eyes of others, and in one's own eyes, because it is assumed that the importance of the work justifies the stress.
4. Avoidance of interruptions including the assignment of other duties can usually be achieved, so that the obviously stressed worker can concentrate on the single effort.
5. Procrastination avoids boredom; one never has the feeling that there is nothing important to do.
6. It may eliminate the job if the need passes before the job can be done.
First Law of Debate:
Never argue with a fool - people might not know the difference.
Swipple Rule of Order:
He who shouts loudest has the floor.
Parker's Rule of
Parliamentary Procedure:A motion to adjourn is always in order.
Patton's Law:
A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
Rayburn's Rule:
If you want to get along, go along.
Boren's Laws:
1. When in doubt, mumble,
2. When in trouble, delegate.
3. When in charge, ponder.
As the laws are presented on my weekly e-mail list I will add them here. Come back each week or see them first by sending an e-mail to murphy-subscribe@topica.com
If you have other Murphy type "Laws"to add please E mail me
