Yak Shaving
Category
Adage, Anecdote, Metaphor
Similar
Doorway Effect Fresh Start EffectDefinition
The process of performing a series of tasks (often nested inside completing other tasks, like side quests) to accomplish a goal, each of which seems necessary in context but becomes less and less linked to the original goal.Origin
Coined by Carlin Vieri in his time at the MIT AI Lab after viewing a 1991 episode of The Ren and Stimpy Show.