Everyday Office Jargon · Managing Director level

"Boil the Ocean"

"Boil the Ocean" describes an attempt to solve a problem so ambitiously broad that it becomes impossible or wildly inefficient to execute.

Say this instead: try to do too much at once

How "Boil the Ocean" shows up at work

A useful warning when a project scope has quietly grown from "fix the checkout flow" to "rebuild the entire customer experience platform." Typically delivered by someone who has lived through a similar project and watched it stall for eighteen months.

Buzzword

We don't need to boil the Ocean here; let's just fix the onboarding step.

Plain English

We don't need to try to do too much at once; let's just fix the onboarding step.

Corporate Rank: Managing Director  ·  Category: Everyday Office Jargon

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