a camel is a horse designed by a committee
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- a camel is a horse designed by committee
- a camel is a horse made by a committee
- a camel is a horse made by committee
Proverb[edit]
a camel is a horse designed by a committee
- An expression critical of committees — which by analogy can extend to both group decision-making as well as abstract or unrelated managerialism — by emphasizing the weaknesses of incorporating too many conflicting and inexperienced opinions into a single project. The distinguishing features of a camel, including its humps, plate-shaped feet, habitual spitting, strange shape and poor temperament, are treated as the sort of deformities that typify a conflicted, or overly idealistic, design process.
- 1952, Proceedings Regular Meeting, Ohio Valley Transportation Advisory Board, Pacific Northwest Advisory Board, page 24:
- A camel is a horse designed by a committee, so we hope that this committee will—and I think it will—function appropriately.
- 1964, Peter and the Commissar, Allan Sherman and the Boston Pops:
- And we all know the saying, which is true as well as witty, that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee.
- 1975, The Professional Geographer: The Journal of the Association of American Geographers, volume 27, page 132:
- If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, what is a materials policy statement prepared by seven study teams?
- 1976, Popular Science, v.209 1976 Jul-Dec:
- Whoever concluded that a camel is a horse designed by a committee could have similar thoughts about taxicabs.
- 1998, The Possibility of Social Choice, Nobel Lecture, Amartya Sen:
- "A camel," it has been said, "is a horse designed by committee." This might sound like a telling example of the terrible deficiencies of committee decisions, but it is really much too mild an indictment.
- 2002,The West Wing, episode Night Five, original airdate February 6th, 2002:
- "This is a presidential address, Andrea, not a camel (...) A camel! A horse built by committee!" (Toby Ziegler)
- 2004, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005, Roger Ebert, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 388:
- To quote another ancient proverb, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee." Life or Something Like It is the movie designed by the camel.
- 2011, January 5, 2011 Mineola, NY Village Meeting. original airdate January 5, 2011:
- "You know what they say about committees, a camel is a horse designed by a committee - Honorable Mayor Lawrence Werther, Mayor of the Incorporated Village of Mineola, New York.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
critique on committees
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