herd cats

Verb

herd cats (third-person singular simple present herds cats, present participle herding cats, simple past and past participle herded cats)

1. (idiomatic) To attempt to control the uncontrollable; to attempt to manage a great many unruly factors or people to a single end.
   • Managing volunteers from fourteen different organizations is like herding cats.
   • Finally, you present this vision and your goals to the authors; after that it’s like herding cats. Authors have their own perspectives on their topics, their own notions about what constitutes significant issues and adequate coverage1983, Paul Henry Mussen, Handbook of Child Psychology, volume 4, page viii
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see herd, cat.
   • It would be hard teaching a shepherd dog to herd cats, or even to herd sheep, before he leaves off his puppy ways and shows himself ready to become a good shepherd.1924, Daniel Wolford La Rue, The Child’s Mind and the Common Branches, →OCLC, page 36