Bikeshedding
Bike-Shed Effect · Parkinson's Law of Triviality
The tendency to give disproportionate weight to trivial issues of a larger or more complex project. In other words, prioritizing something easy to grasp or and/or is debatable.
Origin
Derived from C. Northcote Parkinson's 1957 book Parkinson's Law, in which the British naval historian illustrated bureaucratic dysfunction with a fictional committee reviewing plans for a nuclear power plant. The committee spent most of its time debating the color of a staff bike shed — something everyone could grasp — while rubber-stamping the reactor design. Danish developer Poul-Henning Kamp popularized the term "bikeshedding" in the FreeBSD community in 1999.
Everyday Use
It's always easier to focus on the trivial. It serves as both an opportunity to avoid more challenging, complex issues, while at the same time feeding the need to feel productive through dialogue and confrontation. This is as true for work teams as it is for personal projects, procrastination techniques, and relationships.