Cat Herding
Noun · Slang & Abbreviations
Definitions
A phrase for trying to coordinate many independent people, systems, or moving parts that resist being lined up neatly. In engineering slang, cat herding often describes cross-team projects, distributed incidents, or volunteer-heavy open-source work.
In plain English: Trying to coordinate many independent and hard-to-control things.
Example: "The migration looked straightforward on paper, but in practice it was cat herding across five teams, three vendors, and two different maintenance windows."