Painting the Bike Shed
Published on: 2026-01-28
Word of the day
Bikeshedding:
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.
I’m so guilty of this, though more in the sense of chosing what to work on.
It’s easier to build the smaller, trivial thing than it is to tackle the larger, more consequential, one. The cumulative result is predictably forgettable.