Any committee that is the slightest use is composed of people who are too busy to want to sit on it for a second longer than they have to.

Katharine Whitehorn (1926–2021), a prominent British journalist and columnist associated with the Observer and later the Guardian, was known for wry, practical observations about modern working life and institutions. This remark reflects her characteristic skepticism about bureaucracy and the way committees can become self-perpetuating. In mid-to-late 20th-century British public and professional culture—especially in media, government, and large organizations—committees were often criticized for consuming time without producing decisions. Whitehorn’s line crystallizes that critique by implying that the most effective committees are staffed by people with real responsibilities who therefore push for efficiency and closure rather than endless meetings.

The quote argues that usefulness in committee work correlates with members’ opportunity cost. People who are genuinely “too busy” tend to be action-oriented: they arrive prepared, resist digressions, and aim to conclude quickly because their time is scarce and valuable. Conversely, committees dominated by those with surplus time may drift into process for its own sake—meeting because meeting is what they do—rather than producing outcomes. Whitehorn’s humor sharpens a serious point about institutional design: effectiveness often depends less on formal structure than on incentives, urgency, and the presence of members whose primary identity is doing substantive work rather than attending meetings.