What does yak shaving mean in software engineering?

Yak shaving is the situation where you discover that completing your original task requires completing many prerequisite tasks first. The term describes the frustration of a task spiraling into multiple unrelated subtasks due to technical dependencies.

Where does the term yak shaving come from?

The term comes from a humorous saying that to shave a yak, you must first find it, catch it, prepare it, gather tools, and so on. In tech, it became popular as a metaphor for how one simple task reveals the need for many other tasks.

Is yak shaving always a bad thing?

While yak shaving can be frustrating because it delays the original goal, discovering and addressing technical dependencies is sometimes necessary. However, teams try to minimize yak shaving by identifying dependencies early and planning accordingly.

How do you use yak shaving in a sentence at work?

You typically use it to describe a situation you fell into: We fell into yak shaving when we tried to implement the new logging system. It can also describe a problematic state: This project has become pure yak shaving.

yak shaving meaning in tech — Speak Tech English

Commonness	5/5
Versatility	4/5
Formality	CasualFormalCasual
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region	US and UK

Say it like this

✓We got into some serious yak shaving trying to deploy this feature.

✓This task is pure yak shaving at this point.

✓I hate when a simple fix turns into yak shaving.

Real examples

in a standup

"I wanted to fix the search functionality, but it turned into yak shaving because I had to refactor the entire database query layer first."

in a code review

"We ended up doing a lot of yak shaving here, updating three different dependencies before we could even test the original change."

in a team meeting

"The task was supposed to take two hours, but we fell into yak shaving when we discovered the development environment was broken."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Do not use yak shaving to mean simply working on something unimportant. It specifically refers to discovering that a task requires completion of many prerequisite tasks first.

✕I am yak shaving this project.

✓This project has become yak shaving. OR I am engaged in yak shaving with this project.— Yak shaving is a noun describing a situation, not something you do directly to an object. You do not yak shave something; instead, you become caught in yak shaving.

✕We need to yak shave the code before shipping.

✓We need to avoid yak shaving and focus on the main feature.— Yak shaving is not a positive action to perform. It describes getting distracted by prerequisite tasks, which is something to avoid or acknowledge, not to deliberately do.

✕Yak shaving means working overtime.

✓Yak shaving means doing many prerequisite tasks before completing your original task.— Yak shaving is about task dependencies, not about working long hours. It can happen within regular hours.

Other forms

noun

yak shaving

"The deployment turned into yak shaving when we discovered the configuration files were incompatible."

noun phrase

a yak shaving situation

"We are in a yak shaving situation where every fix requires another fix."

Often used with

fall into yak shavingto inadvertently become involved in prerequisite tasks

avoid yak shavingto try to prevent getting distracted by prerequisite tasks

pure yak shavingused to emphasize that a situation involves many unrelated tasks

yak shaving sessiona period of time spent on prerequisite tasks

Similar words

scope creeprefers to projects growing in scope; yak shaving is more about discovering technical dependencies

rabbit holeboth mean getting distracted, but yak shaving specifically involves technical prerequisites

blocked by dependenciesyak shaving emphasizes the chain of unexpected dependencies

Opposites

focused workstreamlined processdirect solution

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural phrasing

1. Your team spent three days fixing dependencies before addressing the original bug. How would you describe this?

We are yak shaving this bug fix.We fell into yak shaving trying to fix the bug.We need to yak shave the bug.The bug requires yak shaving.

Complete the sentence

2. What started as a simple database query turned into _______ when we realized we needed to upgrade the ORM first.

Spot the incorrect usage

3. Which sentence uses 'yak shaving' incorrectly?

I do not want to end up in yak shaving with this feature.Updating the test framework became yak shaving.We need to yak shave before deploying.This refactoring turned into yak shaving quickly.

Rewrite using yak shaving

4. Rewrite this using yak shaving: 'We wanted to add a new button, but we had to fix the API, then update the server, then fix the database connection first.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "yak shaving" in a standup this week?

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