Definition:
When rolling out or building a new project, every iteration or every action you take exposes either a new unforeseen problem or an additional action you need complete before being able to move forward.
Explanation:
This is a term actually coined by a recent client. I think I’ve heard it before, but not in general use.
This situation happens often when you’re adopting or moving around on cloud services or in company mergers, it happens where you’re dealing with new infrastructure, or after a large security update in which new rules have been applied, and not all teams are aware of the rule changes, particularly project teams who have been beavering away at their own stuff, so when they try and move out of their silo, or integrate with the corporatization in a wider sense, they end up battling every step of the way, every action they take only exposes another action or another sign off to be achieved from somewhere else before they can complete their work and moreover they are unaware of how many more are still to come.
You might hear it used in the following context :
Q: “So how long is the new system going to take to roll out”
A: “We do not know. We are still peeling the onion!”
Disclaimer: As always these posts are not aimed at anyone client or employer and are just my personal observations over a lifetime of dealing with both management and frontline associates.