too many cooks

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."
See also: cook, many
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • good riddance
  • good riddance (to bad rubbish)
  • good-bye and good riddance
  • riddance
  • by any stretch
  • (one) has made (one's) bed
  • (one) made (one's) (own) bed
  • on automatic pilot
  • cut the cord
  • cruisin’ for a bruisin’
References in periodicals archive
"My nan was an amazing cook but I'm sure the saying 'too many cooks spoil the broth' goes well down here cause growing up I wasn't shown much!
Kitchen nightmares; A new Food Newtork series pairs The Foxhunter chef patron Matt Tebbutt with Gemma Davies, a self-confessed terrible cook
Two appendices cover the story of "Too Many Cooks" (there were apparently three contemporaneous James Cooks) and Cook's relationship with the chart publishers.
Jerry Lockett, Captain James Cook in Atlantic Canada: The Adventurer and Map Maker's Formative Years