• “Boil the ocean” means to take on an impossible task or to make a task unnecessarily difficult.

  • The phrase is used in various settings as a negative comment about how a person conducts business or projects.
  • The phrase comes from the literal idea of boiling the ocean, which is an impossible task.
  • In order not to boil the ocean, tasks and projects should have clear targets within the resources provided, frequent discussions of progress and measures against unnecessary expansion.