Too Many Cooks
By Mark Inboden
I believe everyone has heard the term that there are “Too many cooks in the kitchen." When this was spoken at our house, I took it to mean that if you want to be fed, get out of the kitchen so the “cook” can complete the meal. I think at work, people are sometimes afraid to use this phrase.
Mark Inboden
Recently in a meeting, I was listening to several people discuss some current projects. On several of the projects, it seemed that everyone had a different take on what the current status was, as well as the expected delivery dates. Everyone had the same “recipe,” a status schedule in this case, so it shouldn't have mattered how many cooks were involved. After talking some things through, someone finally stepped up, and became the “head chef” so we could deliver the projects on time.
If you are part of a team, and you see that other members are not following the same “recipe,” for the good of everyone involved you might have to utter the phrase, “There are too many cooks in the kitchen," and get everyone focused on the “recipe” that delivers for your customer.
Mark is President and CEO of UCEC.