Have you ever been part of a planning session where a team spent 45 minutes debating the perfect name for their new feature flag configuration? Meanwhile, the architectural decision about their service mesh implementation got a mere two-minute discussion…
If so, you’ve witnessed bikeshedding in action – a phenomenon that’s been haunting teams since before we had bikes to shed.
While the term “bikeshedding” became part of the technical vernacular about 70 years ago, its implications run deeper than most realize. Let’s explore why smart, capable teams still fall into this trap, and more importantly, how we can climb our way out.
From Nuclear Reactors to Feature Flags: A Brief History
C. Northcote Parkinson first documented this behavior in 1957 after observing a nuclear power plant committee meeting. The pattern he noticed was both fascinating and frustrating: the committee breezed through complex reactor specifications but spent hours debating the staff bike shed’s construction details (“What color should we paint the roof????”). Why? Because everyone could understand – and therefore had an opinion about – paint.
This observation led to Parkinson’s Law of Triviality: the time spent on any agenda item will be inversely proportional to its actual importance. (Think about your last retrospective – how much time did you spend discussing the format for the next retro versus creating action items to address that critical technical debt?)
Today’s Bike Sheds: New Context, Same Challenges
1. The Digital Dimension
In my coaching practice, I’ve seen bikeshedding evolve with technology. Slack threads about coding style guidelines grow into epic sagas, while discussions about API security practices struggle to get traction. The bike shed hasn’t disappeared; it’s just gone digital.
2. Remote Team Dynamics
Remote work has added an interesting twist. When you’re connecting through screens, there’s a natural tendency to gravitate toward topics everyone can easily discuss. I’ve watched a distributed team spend three sessions debating their Jira workflow states, while postponing critical architecture decisions “until we can meet in person.”
3. Scaled Challenges
In scaled environments, bikeshedding can cascade across teams. What starts as a simple conversation about the pros and cons of story point estimation techniques (really… we’ll still arguing?? There are just three sizes!) can mushroom into a multi-team, multi-level discussion that consumes more energy than the actual product development itself.
Breaking the Pattern: Practical Approaches To Avoid the Trap
I don’t like to watch teams struggle with bikeshedding, so I’ve developed an approach that combines strategic thinking with practical application. Here’s the framework:
1. Impact Assessment and Triage
- Before any discussion begins, explicitly state its impact on users, business value, and technical architecture
- If it helps, use a 2×2 complexity vs. impact matrix
- Utilize clear delegation protocols that cover low and high-impact stuff
2. Decision Velocity
- Allocate discussion time proportional to business impact, complexity, risk, etc
- When the time is up, the discussion ends
- Assign an Observer Role to watch for bikeshedding patterns
- Regular progress checks: “Is this discussion still worthy of the entire group’s time?” (Don’t need to use the full-time box just because we allocated it….)
- Embrace “good enough” over perfect, especially for low-impact items
3. Sustaining the Practice
- Track decisions, discussion time, etc to identify patterns
- Review decision-making effectiveness in retrospectives
Moving Forward: Beyond the Bike Shed
The real challenge is creating an environment where teams naturally focus on what matters most. It requires a balance of structure and flexibility, combined with the courage to call out diversions when they appear.
Next time you find your team deep in a discussion about something that feels suspiciously bike shed-shaped, try asking: “Is this the most valuable use of our collective intelligence right now?” The answer might surprise you.
I’d love to hear about your experiences with bikeshedding and how you’ve handled it. What strategies have worked for your team? Share your stories in the comments, and let’s learn from each other’s experiences.
This article is based on real experiences working with agile teams across various industries. The examples have been sanitized to protect the innocent (and the bike sheds). It’s also a refresh of an older article that suddenly got a lot of eyeballs….
