11 Laws of the Universe

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Give a task a week and it takes a week. Tight, honest deadlines are a feature, not a threat.

It always takes longer than you expect — even when you account for Hofstadter's Law.

Estimate, then pad. Then pad again. It's never the part you planned for that runs long.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Most bad outcomes are mistakes, not plots. Assume good faith and you save everyone a fight.

Roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes.

Find the vital few. Ship those first, and the rest matters less than you think.

In a hierarchy, people rise to their level of incompetence.

Being great at a job isn't proof you'll be great at the next one up.

The more choices you offer, the longer every decision takes.

Fewer options, faster action. A page with one button beats a page with nine.

When a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure.

Optimize a metric and people game the metric. Watch the outcome it was standing in for.

The less skilled you are at something, the more you overestimate your own ability.

When a job looks easy, that's usually the part you know least about. Go ask someone who's done it.

Among explanations that fit the facts, prefer the one with the fewest assumptions.

Don't invent complexity the evidence doesn't demand.

Don't tear down a fence until you know why it was put up.

Understand the rule before you break it. The ones nobody can explain are usually holding something up.