committee


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a camel is a horse designed by a committee

Committees, due to their reliance on several different opinions and viewpoints, produce results that are fragmented, inefficient, or of poor quality, especially compared to the work of a single individual or a small team. A: "Did you see this latest memo? Can you believe the asinine decisions the task force made?" B: "Well, a camel is a horse designed by a committee."
See also: camel, committee, design, horse

a committee is a group of men who keep minutes and waste hours

Committees take a very long time to accomplish something, if they accomplish anything at all. A pun on "minutes," which is a record of what is discussed at a particular meeting. A: "The task force has been in a meeting all day! How can they not have reached a decision by now?" B: "Well, a committee is a group of men who keep minutes and waste hours."
See also: and, committee, group, hour, keep, men, minute, of, waste, who
References in periodicals archive ?
Our Committee on Private Companies held its first Capitol Hill "fly-in" with several Congressional staff members.
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Indeed, at one point in time, JCAHO actually required that every existing committee meet monthly.
The hospital ethics committee--then and now
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This includes such things as an effective strategy, decision-making, tactics, education, performance review, committee orientation, voting process, hiring of managers, communication, committee selection/retention, and attribution analysis.
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That is exactly why we do need our own Ethical Concerns Committee.
Ethical concerns committee: no cause for concern
The Committee also began to make available on the same schedule a new document--a companion piece to the Record of Policy Actions--that was called "Minutes of Actions.
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150, The Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act, filed with Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (9/30/03).
Appendix: 2003-2004 technical activities
The National Taxpayers Union, which has given Sherman seven ``F'' marks and two ``Ds'' on his voting record going back to 1997, wrote a long letter encouraging the congressman's recent attempt to limit House committees to spending $25,000 a year on postage.
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Committee on Development: The Chair of this committee shall represent the Society in all dealings with individuals or foundations, for the purpose of securing funds for the projects and activities of the Society, including capital funds.
Constitution and bylaws of the Renaissance Society of America as amended 28 March 2003 at the 49th Annual Council Meeting held in the Colony Toronto Hotel, Toronto, Canada
The two hymn committees--the Hymn Texts Committee and the Hymn Music Committee--consisted of nine members each, three members each from the LCA, the ALC, and the LCMS.
Some thoughts on the hymnody of Lutheran Book of Worship: context, issues, and legacy
SERVING ON AN AUDIT COMMITTEE INVOLVES a significant time commitment, including preparing for meetings as well as attending them.
CPAs as Audit Committee members: be part of the new vanguard in corporate governance
Committee members were undaunted, however, because they realized that, critical though the column was, it provided free publicity for their campaign.
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IN 1946, THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (ALA) established with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) the Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups.
A fifty-five year partnership: ALA and the AFL-CIO
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