Inspirational Quotes by C. Northcote Parkinson (British Historian)

Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909–93) was a British author, historian, and management theorist renowned for his contributions to organizational theory and the formulation of “Parkinson’s Law,” which gained widespread recognition in business and popular culture. His writings have had a lasting impact on management theory, particularly in the study of organizational behavior and efficiency.

Born in Barnard Castle, County Durham, England, Parkinson spent much of his career in education and public administration. He worked in the Colonial Office before becoming a professor at the University of Malaya in Singapore, where his observations on bureaucracy and inefficiency laid the foundation for his influential theories.

Parkinson’s most famous work, Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress (1957,) introduced the idea that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” This satirical examination of organizational behavior highlighted the inefficiencies inherent in bureaucratic systems and critiqued the expansion of government and corporate structures. The book became a classic in management literature and went through multiple editions.

In addition to Parkinson’s Law, Parkinson wrote Parkinson’s Law: Studies in Administration (1958,) The Law and the Profits (1960,) The Evolution of Political Thought (1960,) and Parkinson’s Law: The Complete Works (1991.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by C. Northcote Parkinson

Delay is the deadliest form of denial.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Procrastination

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Work

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase “It is the busiest man who has time to spare.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Work, Procrastination

Expenditures rise to meet income.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Value

The smaller the function, the greater the management.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Management

The Law of Triviality… briefly stated, it means that the time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Money

Expansion means complexity and complexity decay.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Concentration, Focus

A committee is organic rather than mechanical in its nature: it is not a structure but a plant. It takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts, and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom in their turn.
—C. Northcote Parkinson
Topics: Committees

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Inspirational Quotes by C. Northcote Parkinson (British Historian)

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