boil the ocean
Attempt the impractical
To boil the ocean is to attempt something impossibly ambitious or overcomplicated—a task so vast it cannot realistically be accomplished.
The phrase usually appears as a warning against scope creep or perfectionism: Let's not boil the ocean here; we just need a working prototype.
Sometimes used positively for genuine moonshot ambitions, but more often describes wasted effort on the unachievable.
- impossibleIncapable of occurring
- unattainableImpossible to acquire
- futileIncapable of producing results
- overambitiousExcessively driven toward goals
- inefficientPoor at using resources
spinning your wheels · tilting at windmills · analysis paralysis · chasing rainbows · wild goose chase · herding cats · overengineering · tall order · attempt · go big or go home · stretch goal · reach for the stars · pipe dream · pie in the sky · moving mountains · overreaching · scope creep · building castles in the air
- buzzwordssynergy, leverage, paradigm, stakeholder, scalable
- office jargonsynergy, circle back, touch base, deep dive, action item
- work idiomsburning out, rat race, climb the ladder, glass ceiling, golden handshake
- corporate jargonsynergy, stakeholders, deep dive, circle back, leverage
- startup jargonMVP, fail fast, scaling, unicorn, disrupt
boil the oceanfocus
Concentrated attention point
pick your battles · low-hanging fruit · laser focus · baby steps · zero in
boil the oceanKISS principle
Design philosophy favoring simplicity
simplify · streamline · cut to the chase · get to the point · Occam's razor
boil, boils, boiled, boiling, boiler, boilers, ocean, oceans, oceanic