throw it over the wall

Intermediate 💼 Corporate / Business

Definition

To complete your portion of work and toss it to the next team without coordination or concern for consequences. Teamwork at its most dysfunctional.

Example Usage

Engineering just threw the feature over the wall to QA without any documentation whatsoever.

Origin

Manufacturing and product development, 1980s-1990s

Fun Fact

The phrase emerged from criticism of siloed departments in manufacturing, yet the practice persists decades later.

Source: Operations and manufacturing terminology

Related Terms

Translate This Term

See “throw it over the wall” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator