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My client has recently been trying to explain his IT team's failure to get a newly-launched system to work properly, which he attributed to insufficient testing. When I asked him why the system hadn't been sufficiently tested, he said another department might have put pressure on the IT guys to get it going before it was tested well enough.

Then he looked for a phrase to say that each department was following their own agenda, and used the name of a famous Russian fable describing how a swan, a crab, and a pike tried to move a wagon, the swan trying to take to the skies, the pike going downstream, and the crab pulling it back.

Here's the question: is there a phrase to describe a situation in which every party involved does their own thing, and their efforts are poorly coordinated?

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    Not really the same thing but related: "Too many cooks spoil the broth".
    – Mitch
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 19:01
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    BTW, that's "swan, crawfish/crab, and pike".
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 19:06
  • And, in answer to your original question, "business as usual".
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 19:06
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    "Herding cats" might be useful. Also, SNAFU and FUBAR might apply.
    – computercarguy
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 20:34
  • What is a wago?
    – David
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 20:42

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"Working at cross-purposes" describes the situation where each team's efforts are interfering with the others and preventing them being successful.

"Dancing to their own tune" describes where everybody is doing what they want without consulting the others, but doesn't include the element of each interfering with the other.

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