The above statement is known as Parkinson's Law. If you think about make work projects, red tape and bureaucracy, you'll get the point. This also describes the shadow side of Virgo. Work for work's sake. Drowning in details.
"The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved".
In other words, people will spend huge amounts of time and energy discussing trivial matters. They won't look stupid discussing bike sheds (everyone understands them) as opposed to nuclear physics.
Once again, Virgo's shadow side. Worth considering with the Sun and Venus currently transiting this sign. Virgo's shadow side is the conviction of personal inferiority and attempting to cope by wallowing in bizarrely minute details.
Fortunately, the antidote to this can be found in Virgo as well. FYI, the antidote to any sign's shadow side can be found in that same sign. The elevated side of Virgo is efficiency. Putting time into things of substance. Being the crafts-person instead of the detail drone. Discerning what needs to be done and not wasting time on anything else.
With the current planetary emphasis on Virgo it's easy to focus on things that don't matter. This energy will be amplified once Mercury joins the Sun and Venus in Virgo on September 9th. Try using this energy to be super efficient instead. When I write "efficient", I mean devoting most of your energy to what really matters in your life.
It's a simple concept but it's not easy to put into action.