Eat the elephant [exp.]

A businessman and businesswoman carefully cut an elephant cake with a knife and fork.

To take on a large, intimidating task. Usually followed by “one bite at a time,” which is a reminder that even the largest problems can be solved by breaking them down into manageable bits. “Elephant in the room? One bite at a time, love.”

Usually an organization is going to not try to eat the elephant all at the same time, but start with where their primary pain point is and then pull in the other major mission critical system.

William Wood, President & CEO
Sylogist Ltd.
Q2 2024 earnings call

As an analogy, it is like a snake eating the elephant. It is slow and painful at times, but we are making good progress.

Razvan Radulescu, CFO
Blue Bird Corp.
Q2 2022 earnings call

Merrill: I joked a couple of quarters ago, people didn’t laugh, but I joked about eating the elephant one bite at a time…

Analyst: …and then second question actually relates to your elephant eating… …So I was wondering if on the other stuff–the elephant eating, what kind of progress you think you made there?

Merrill: …well, guess what, that’s one of my bites to the elephant. That’s not a standard feature anymore, that’s an upgrade.

Allan P. Merrill, CEO, President & Director
Beazer Homes USA Inc.
Q1 2013 earnings call