Delay is the deadliest form of denial; endless deferral kills a proposal without anyone opposing it.
Parkinson's observation is about method: opposition is visible and answerable, deferral is neither. The proposal dies without anyone being on record against it.
In practice
- A proposal is sent for legal review, then for a data assessment, then to a working group, and is never rejected.
- A hiring request that requires four approvals in sequence dies without anyone having declined it.