{
  "id": "spread-too-thin.capacity",
  "term": "spread too thin",
  "sense": "capacity",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 19,
  "arena": "emergence",
  "domain": "everyday language",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A state where energy capacity is divided so finely across tasks that no part receives enough to persist, and maintenance fails everywhere at once.",
  "folk_gloss": "Feeling overwhelmed because you are trying to do too many things at once.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "energy.capacity",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "window.range",
      "drift.aimless"
    ],
    "interaction": "spread too thin",
    "novel_properties": [
      "capacity",
      "burnout"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The 2020 U.S. Census faced data collection delays when field operations were compressed into fewer months with unchanged staffing levels.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    },
    {
      "text": "In 2019, Boeing diverted engineers from safety systems to meet 737 MAX production targets, delaying critical software reviews.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "During the 2008 financial crisis, AIG could not sustain collateral demands across its credit default swaps as liquidity evaporated.",
      "domain": "economics"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "spread too thin"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — capacity and burnout"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-spread-too-thin.capacity"
}