wave a dead chicken 

to perform a task known to be ineffective simply to make it appear you are working to solve a problem.

i knew the proposal was way off base but i waved a dead chicken and corrected the spelling anyway.

wave a dead chicken by hidef March 29, 2004

Wave a Dead Chicken Over It 

A term commonly used in technology meaning to do some useless, unhelpful thing in hopes it will solve a problem. For example, restarting your computer.

Intern: AGH! My computer froze!
Supervisor: Well, why don't you just wave a dead chicken over it; restart it.

Wave a Dead Chicken Over It by Leah77777777777777777777 October 4, 2008