A snake with legs

The team sat around the table, planning a campaign for World Water Day. Things were going well until…

… someone mentioned that World Water Day is all about sustainability, so why not mention Earth Hour too?

Inspired, another teammate brings up the CSR team’s new carbon neutrality landing page - perhaps the World Water Day marketing assets should link back to that page.

“We can’t leave out endangered animals!” Someone else adds.

“Humans are a part of the environment too. Since International Women’s Day falls in the same month, let’s rope it in somehow!” Chimes in another.

There’s a Chinese idiom - “画蛇添足“.
loosely translated, it means “drawing a snake and adding legs”.

What does it mean?

That you’ve gone too far. You’ve crossed the finish line but didn’t stop running.

You had drawn a perfect snake but were unable to recognise completion and kept going until… your creation no longer made sense.

Basically, you got in your own way and lost the plot! A snake… with unnecessary legs.

Never forget why you are in that meeting room in the first place, and be wary of exciting ideas that bring you on tangents that do not serve your purpose. Have you experienced this creative pitfall before, and how have you solved it?