Proverb: If Something is Managed By Many, Things Are Missed

I'm wondering if there is a well-known, documented and succinct proverb that matches the idea of:

  • Too many managers or departments overseeing a single task
  • The task fails because there are too many overseeing the single task
  • Nobody feels responsible because every party can blame the other party

My bad memory tells me that I once heard a proverb that may have been something like "A horse with two masters starves." I am wanting to put it in a professional presentation and don't want to embarrass myself by misquoting the proverb, if it even is one.


There is:

Too many cooks spoil the broth

The Free Dictionary says of the idiom “Too many cooks”:

Too many people trying to control, influence, or work on something, with the quality of the final product suffering as a result. A shortened version of the full phrase, "Too many cooks spoil the broth/stew/soup." A: "We've got my boss, his boss, the assistant manager, a freelance consultant, and the head of IT all involved, and it's turning into a complete disaster!" B: "It sounds to me like there are too many cooks."


This is by no means as good as the "Too many cooks" expression, but "design by committee" is a pejorative term when too many people on a committee are counterproductive in achieving its goals. Because there too many opinions and contributions the result is usually a big mess due to this.

Design by committee