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_ .--'\/\_ \__/. \ / \ ^^ ___
/ \_ _/ ^ \/ __ :' /\/\ /\ __/ \
/ \ / .' _/ / \ ^ / \/ \/ .`'\_/\
/\/\ /\/ :' __ ^/ ^/ `--./.' ^ `-.\ _ _:\ _
/ \/ \ _/ \-' __/.' ^ _ \_ .'\ _/ \ . __/ \
/\ .- `. \/ \ / -. _/ \ -. `_/ \ / `._/ ^ \
/ `-.__ ^ / .-'.--' . / `--./ .-' `-. `-. `. - `.
/ `. / / `-. / .-' / . .' \ \ \ .- \
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/__()__\
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/| |\
| |_`__'o |
| (*)\/(*) |
-\|/--\|/--|----------|--\|/--|-\|/Technical disputes over minor, marginal issues conducted while more serious ones are being overlooked. The implied image is of people arguing over what color to paint the bicycle shed while the house is not finished. (jargon file)
I'm not pointing fingers as I get sucked into those discussions just like everyone else, but the bikeshedding-to-action ratio is fabulously high.
The term was coined as a metaphor to illuminate Parkinson’s Law of Triviality. Parkinson observed that a committee whose job is to approve plans for a nuclear power plant may spend the majority of its time on relatively unimportant but easy-to-grasp issues, such as what materials to use for the staff bikeshed, while neglecting the design of the power plant itself, which is far more important but also far more difficult to criticize constructively.
Reminder to self - make an emoji proposal for bikeshedding. http://www.unicode.org/emoji/selection.html#emoji_proposals_form