Bikeshedding

Do you ever remember sitting in class and having a teacher get off track from a lesson plan? They may have spent a large portion of your biology lecture time telling you a personal story or skimmed over an important scientific theory. In such an instance, your teacher may have fallen victim to bikeshedding, where they spent too long discussing something minor and lost sight of what was really important. Even though it may have been more entertaining to listen to their story, it did not help you acquire the necessary facts for your exam next week.

Bikeshedding is also a common occurrence in corporate and consulting environments, especially during meetings. Imagine you have a meeting scheduled with your colleagues to discuss two important issues. The first issue is having to come up with ways in which the company can reduce carbon emissions. The second issue is discussing the implementation of standing desks at the office. It is clear that the first issue is more important, but also more complex. You and your coworkers will likely find it much easier to talk about whether or not to get standing desks. As a result, everyone devotes a large portion of the scheduled meeting time to this more trivial matter.