ProverbHuman NatureJapanese origin

船頭多くして船山に登る (Sendō ōku shite fune yama ni noboru)

Meaning: When too many people give orders, things go absurdly wrong.

Literally: With too many captains, the ship climbs the mountain

Example: “リーダーが五人もいて、計画がまとまらない。船頭多くして船山に登るだ。” — With five leaders, the plan never comes together: too many cooks spoil the broth.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and 4 more languages

  • English: Too many cooks spoil the broth
  • French: Trop de cuisiniers gâtent la sauce (literally: Too many cooks spoil the sauce)
  • Spanish: Muchas manos en un plato hacen mucho garabato (literally: Many hands on a plate make a mess)
  • German: Viele Köche verderben den Brei (literally: Many cooks spoil the porridge)
  • Italian: Tanti galli a cantar non fa mai giorno (literally: With so many roosters crowing, day never breaks)
  • Dutch: Veel koks bederven de brij (literally: Many cooks spoil the porridge)
  • Russian: У семи нянек дитя без глазу (U semi nyanek ditya bez glazu) (literally: With seven nannies, the child loses an eye)
  • Polish: Gdzie kucharek sześć, tam nie ma co jeść (literally: Where there are six cooks, there's nothing to eat)
  • Korean: 사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다 (Sagongi maneumyeon baega saneuro ganda) (literally: With too many boatmen, the boat ends up on a mountain)

Origin: With every boatman steering his own way, the boat ends up somewhere no boat should be: on top of a mountain. Korean has the same boat: 사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다.

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