It is called bikeshedding. People have been using "bike sheds" in software development for years to get project managers off their back about the important stuff.
This is about how some managers feel they have to suggest a change, any change, to justify their position.
Bike shedding is excessive discussion in committees/group emails about trivial matters because everyone feels they understand the issue, unlike more complex issues up for discussion.
Correct, but a similar cause underlies both. From PHK's email on bikes-heds, "somebody will seize the chance to show that he is doing his job, that he is paying attention, that he is here."
The project manager needs to show that's he's here and actually doing things, and so decrees changes like getting rid of the duck or changing the color of the buttons from taupe to mauve. In bikeshedding, all the people commenting need to prove that they're there and contributing, so now everyone is suggesting color changes. It seems to me that the main difference is the number of people involved.
Yep - you offer up a sacrificial bikeshed/duck for management to meddle with, whilst the important stuff is left alone. Could be one person or a committee/group - its the same thing.
Or, as Thomas Jefferson did, you overwhelm them with excessive preparation, so that they are reduced to making minor suggestions and your vision goes through.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law_of_triviality
This is about how some managers feel they have to suggest a change, any change, to justify their position.
Bike shedding is excessive discussion in committees/group emails about trivial matters because everyone feels they understand the issue, unlike more complex issues up for discussion.