Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

The next morning as the project deadline approached the new manager had called the meeting to
track the progress and update the team members. In the expectation that multi-dimensional
approach by assigning roles to different team members would improve the quality of service
delivery, the manager was hoping to get different ideas from different people and therefore the
right one will be chosen and pursued. Yet it hasn't been so. The call took place in the conference
room, with everyone attending. Everyone gave their own ideas, which are obviously special to
each other. Outcome? Idea-chaos!

Nobody could complete the assignment of the full task. Reason? Inaccurate layout and execution.
Nobody ends up carrying the responsibility. Had the Director separated the project into different
tasks and allocated each role to a single person, and could then be incorporated into the work to
complete the project on time and save duplication of work. "Proper planning" and "demarcation
of roles" are important to the effective and efficient completion of a mission.
It gives us the notion of saying, Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth. A chef, with his own
combination of ingredients, may be professional and skilled in making a dish alone. But when
several cooks begin to make the dish together, each person adds according to his / her taste and
need. The combination of the best of cooks can end up spoiling it instead of serving the most
delicious dish!

Divided responsibility is not a liability since no one is worrying about the job. The consequence
is either the job is either not completed or finished or the standard becomes a first casualty. Will
one person in charge of doing a job do it better than if there were a lot of people to do it? Yes!
Reason? He is liable and accountable for his good or bad work. There will be regular quarrels
within a family if various members are free to make decisions? Synopsis Yes, nature is wise
enough not to have created two brains in just one individual. One brain efficiently and nicely
regulates the body.

Broth means soup with thin beef. If too many chefs were trying to make it, they will spoil it for
sure. One chef could do better. Unlike many cooks, different directions would do more harm
than good. The same way too many people at one point are interested in the particular task,
leaving everyone frustrated.

Any school's annual day function is an experience everybody looks forward to as it is a time to
celebrate the school's accomplishment in different fields of operation. At my school it was the
same thing too. This time, it would be different since the function's entertainment component
was to be arranged by the students themselves. The Principal had asked the teachers to work with
the students, and each named one representative for the teachers and the students. Mr. Saleem
was the teacher-representative, a man who had not believed in giving so much responsibility to
the students. The students on their part had decided in their excitement to coordinate it but had
no idea how to do it. Function day has arrived. The students had focused on the costumes and
music in their excitement, but had completely forgotten every part of the stage management.
Each group thought the other guarded those details, Guess what happened? Chaos,
mismanagement and teary eyes. There were not enough mikes, they hadn't tested to see how the
audio system worked properly with the result that the viewers couldn't hear them correctly.
Likewise they hadn't tested if the curtains were working properly. The effect was that the
curtains stopped at halfway through giving rise to some funny moments as the audience could
clearly see all that was going on backstage. The students further messed up program by anxiety
and stress. It wouldn’t have gone better if everyone were assigned specific jobs instead of
involving the whole student lot? We get 10 different shades of embarrassment that time but the
lesson learned is still remembered.

There are men and men out there and not every stone is a diamond. No two guys can be the
same. They vary on one or the other level. If both are talented, then they might not be the same.
If we take on a project we need a team of employees. But we all divide up positions to avoid
confusion. Otherwise confusion is bound to come. There should be a single hand at one job. No
one is responsible for each one's work. Everyone does the work the way they want. The effect is
nothing less than a tremendous confusion.

Take, for example, the construction of a house. If one productive engineer guides and monitors
the building operations, relatively reasonable results can be anticipated. But if we have 05
engineers for single house? Non-required expenditures and delays. A part of the construction
performed under the supervision of one engineer may not be to another's liking. He may order
the already constructed portion to be pulled down, and the work began again. The complexity of
the thing to do should be properly assessed, the number of people needed to do the thing
efficiently should be determined by applying common sense and a definite obligation put on
each. This will avoid overlapping and no interference can arise in another's domain so that
smooth work is assured. In the case of the above mentioned example, each should be allocated
the construction. Through this, chaos and time and money waste will be avoided and the whole
process will continue consistently and efficiently.

Some more examples of where this proverb could make sense include:

1. When a boss asks several employees to work together on a project at work, but each
employee has his or her own idea of how to carry out the project. End result? Chaos
2. When the whole family gets involved in the planning of an event – like an engagement
party – instead of leaving it to the one or two people who are most important to that case.
Result? Conflicts, frustration, bitterness and mess.