149Japanese proverb ことわざ
船頭多くして船山に上る
せんどうおおくしてふねやまにのぼるSendō ōku shite fune yama ni noboru
“Too many boatmen pull the boat up the mountain.”
The meaning
When everyone commands, no one steers: the boat ends up where no boat should be. Every common work needs one heading — and one hand on the tiller.
At the origin
A proverb about the confusion of multiple directions.
The characters
- 船頭 sendōboatmen
- 多く ōkumany
- して shitebeing (link)
- 船
- 山
- に
- 上る
In practice
In a joint project, clarify who holds the tiller — even if it is not you.