How Company Policy Works...

[M.D. Holloway]

An experiment was carried out on monkeys. You can do this at home provided you have ample supply of monkeys!

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how a company policy begins.

[calimedeiros]

lol that's good
but if the monkeys were never told about the other monkeys getting sprayed cold water this would happen all over again
eventually they will get sick of filling the water bucket
get it

[cashflyer]

So lets say you start with 535 monkeys, and you make one of them king of the monkeys......

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

So lets say you start with 535 monkeys, and you make one of them king of the monkeys......

That sounds like congress.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by calimedeiros

lol that's good
but if the monkeys were never told about the other monkeys getting sprayed cold water this would happen all over again
eventually they will get sick of filling the water bucket
get it

they replace one sat a time and have the new one attempt to grab the banana. He learns that anyone going for it will get beat'n. He doesn't know why but when your a monkey 'why' isn't something you think about. So an original is replaced and the new monkey tries for the banana and gets the same treatment. It just keeps going and going with the addition of a new monkey. I wonder what would it take in terms of a new population to over turn the behavior? Instead of adding 1 new you added 50% of the population. Would they comply with the actions of the others if they just witnessed without getting sprayed?

How many new to the fold would it take to overthrow the old actions?

[on2wheels52]

"There's no reason for it, it's just our policy"

Jim

[onewhippedpuppy]

Yup, that sounds about right.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

they replace one sat a time and have the new one attempt to grab the banana. He learns that anyone going for it will get beat'n. He doesn't know why but when your a monkey 'why' isn't something you think about. So an original is replaced and the new monkey tries for the banana and gets the same treatment. It just keeps going and going with the addition of a new monkey. I wonder what would it take in terms of a new population to over turn the behavior? Instead of adding 1 new you added 50% of the population. Would they comply with the actions of the others if they just witnessed without getting sprayed?

How many new to the fold would it take to overthrow the old actions?

i think that is happening with the next generation...regarding trees and cars.

I blame the movie "the lorax"

I dropped a tree this weekend and the young neighbour down the street had a fit. Same fit that causes him to call bylaw (with no penalty to us ) every time I start my 911 or my other neighbour starts his ferrari.

I'm sure he has no idea why he does it but I'll bet there were monkeys involved.

[wildthing]

On a more serious note, I'm in the middle of reading "The Power of Habit".

That's how habits are formed.

[tabs]

Monkey wana a Banana?

Mkkey, you just figured this out??? I have understood this concept for about 40 years. That is why I treat yo all like a bunch of little tree dwelling creatures, and the ones that have been done educccated I fondly think of as being Porch Monkeys.

."

[tabs]

Originally Posted by wildthing

On a more serious note, I'm in the middle of reading "The Power of Habit".

That's how habits are formed.

OHHH joy more self help book lurnin...Unless you work the equation, you will always revert back to your old habits.

[DanielDudley]

The purpose of business isn't to get the banana. It is to create more bananas.

If you show up, and don't act like a monkey, nobody can make a monkey out of you.

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by tabs

Monkey wana a Banana?

Mkkey, you just figured this out??? I have understood this concept for about 40 years. That is why I treat yo all like a bunch of little tree dwelling creatures, and the ones that have been done educccated I fondly think of as being Porch Monkeys.

."

Porsche Monkeys, please. We ain't got no porch monkeys massa Tabs.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by wildthing

On a more serious note, I'm in the middle of reading "The Power of Habit".

That's how habits are formed.

yes! great book - highly recommend it like 27 times!

[M.D. Holloway]

TABS, I don't know about figuring it all out. I found this in an email I sent someone about 15 years ago. I was purging files on and came across it. The way i read it is that the stays quo punishes all that challenge the process regardless of the process.

If you trust leadership you don't have to question it but sadly most leadership in government and in corporate falls way short so it has to be challenged.

[Baz]

"It's the way we've always done it."