Adjusting how a program uses processor time, memory, disk, or network bandwidth so that it consumes fewer of them or schedules them better.

Stacked three abstractions deep in enterprise proposals so that "we made it use less memory" can appear as a strategic initiative with its own budget line.

• Three-Word Padding: "Foundational," "resource-management," and "optimization" each add cost without adding information.
• Initiative Inflation: Turning a configuration change into a program with a charter and a steering call.
• House-Cleaning Reality Check: Like moving the vacuum to a lower shelf and calling it "foundational household storage optimization."

Cheaper by the Dozen (1950s) scene where the father, a professional efficiency expert, stands over the family with a stopwatch timing how they button their coats and climb into the car.

“Phase one delivers foundational resource-management optimization across the compute estate.”

“We changed two settings so the backup job uses less memory and stops slowing down the server.”