Too many cooks spoil the broth

It is very common for teachers to request students to do group projects. What are the advantages and disadvantages of project-based learning? Do you enjoy working with your classmates? While projects may allow students to share their knowledge and skills among themselves, the results can be disastrous. As a proverb says,“too many cooks spoil the broth.” 

“Broth”is soup consisting of bones, meat or vegetables simmered slowly. Imagine that many cooks are trying to prepare the same soup in the kitchen. The first one wants it salty; the second one wants it spicy; the third one wants it thicker; the fourth one prefers more meat; and the last one likes a lot of vegetables. During the process, there are arguments and quarrels because everyone wants to be the boss to control or influence the final product. So what will the broth taste like in the end ? 

The earliest version of this proverb appeared in a writing by George Gascoigne, an English poet, in 1575. 

“There is the proverb, the more cooks the worse potage.” 

“Potage” is a thick soup of French origin or character. 

Nowadays, while“too many cooks spoil the broth”（人多手腳亂）is most common, there are many different versions. 

We couldn’t finish the English project on time because there were too many cooks. 

There are too many cooks in the kitchen, and everyone wants to be the leader. 

Since too many cooks spoil the stew , we should limit the number of participants in this meeting.