政出多门

政出多門

zhèngchūduōmén

idiom

Meanings

1 policy issuing from many sources
2 fragmented governance with conflicting orders
3 divided command leading to contradictory directives

Characters

policy, government orders

to come out, to issue

door, source, authority

Examples

这个项目政出多门，下面的人根本不知道该听谁的。

Zhège xiàngmù zhèngchūduōmén, xiàmiàn de rén gēnběn bù zhīdào gāi tīng shéi de.

This project has orders coming from too many sources — those below simply don't know whom to listen to.

政出多门的结果就是效率低下，互相推诿。

Zhèngchūduōmén de jiéguǒ jiùshì xiàolǜ dīxià, hùxiāng tuīwěi.

Fragmented authority leads to low efficiency and finger-pointing.

为避免政出多门，公司重新梳理了决策流程。

Wèi bìmiǎn zhèngchūduōmén, gōngsī chóngxīn shūlǐ le juécè liúchéng.

To avoid conflicting commands from multiple sources, the company restructured its decision-making process.

Tips

history

From the Zuo Zhuan (《左传·成公十六年》): 晋政多门，不可从也 — 'Jin's governance comes from many sources and cannot be followed.' Originally a warning that a state with divided authority is unstable and unreliable.

usage

Now extends beyond government to any organization — companies, teams, projects — where multiple bosses or departments issue overlapping or contradictory instructions.

Stroke Order

政 zhèng

出 chū

多 duō

门 mén