When we are running late, boichik and I end up on a bus also ridden by a pair of very talkative, very young STEM professionals who have deeply male-bonded over having the same job at different companies.
Their morning bus ride is their equivalent of a daily kaffeeklatsch... and my equivalent of watching Seinfeld.
Today I learned about "bike-shedding."
Imagine a white-collar neighborhood getting together to build a community bike shed. The majority of the participants have no actual building experience, so instead planning sessions dissolve into power plays in which the individuals who know the least try to maximize their personal sense of competence and control by forcing everyone else to hyper-focus on whatever trivial aspect of the project they think they understand-- like, picking the paint color.
This, is bike-shedding.
You're welcome.
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