Of Monkeys and Pedestals

I’m fascinated by Annie’s insights conveyed during an interview because she expressed them in the least complex manner.? What business books fail to teach so effectively, she did with elan.? Here is an up-close perspective from her interview, and some of my own thoughts.

Work hard, play hard, but don't give up

Most of us will agree that hard work and perseverance are the stepping stones to success in the corporate world, and the more time and energy we spend in the office, or on a project (perfecting it until the last millisecond, prior to delivery), we feel gratified.

Why?? Because “we believe that we’re creating something significant by investing our time, energy, skills and money”, and that alone is enough to take us forward. ?

Going further back, from the time we start our work-life, we hear “work hard”, and “don’t give up.” For those of us who are moderately ambitious, and have career goals, we begin to invest deeply, year after year in our job - and even more so persistently, if we’ve discovered that we’re naturally skilled and suited to that particular area of work. ?Giving up or quitting is not an option. We get identified by what we do, and not who we are. Quite normal, because it's not possible to show or tell everyone in the world who we are as individuals. Our jobs and projects become our identity.

In my career, like many of yours, I’ve believed that hard work can conquer the toughest challenges and move me up the corporate ladder as it is meant to, but it hasn’t happened in the way I imagined it would.? Some will say, not everyone is lucky, and I agree. Luck or synchronicity is a factor. One thought was, ‘Am I in the wrong profession?’ Another was, ‘Should I do something differently or perhaps change my discipline to succeed in the rat race?’ ?Often, I’ve wanted to give up everything: career, corporate life, and pet projects that weren't taking off.? Just quit it all, once and for all!

However, I for one, hate giving up midway on life, or projects, or goals that involve a potpourri of emotions, skills and time...and dreams (most important!) So, in effect, and understandably, I've dragged some of my personal projects along for years, believing that someday I will solve the challenges that are hindering me from completing them. ?

Master the art of quitting

On the flip side, Annie Duke, the author of two books (see profile at the end of the article), argues that in order to become a smart decision-maker and a game-changer, we need to master the art of quitting. ?

Sounds counterintuitive from an HR perspective, when companies are focused on retention through employee welfare programs, and have steep goals for lowering attrition numbers.? However, this is not so much about encouraging individuals to quit their job because they’re unhappy with the work culture.?

From a business and life perspective, Duke emphasizes, that quitting can be hard but is necessary, and the act of quitting is not as natural as it appears to be for various reasons in our corporate world.

In my view, at times, it is tough to quit even in our personal world. While we can gloss over personal goals and quit something we were chasing rather quickly, we can't do that in the corporate world. Our brand and reputation are at stake, or so we imagine. We forget that in the corporate world, to be effective in business, and as leaders, we need to exhibit strong decision-making skills. Even if we know we've made bad decisions regarding projects or innovations, we're unlikely to quit, and with good reason, but we really should.

Some common problems that leaders face

Not being able to change their mind midway into a project, or a venture, for fear of losing or looking bad is a significant and recurring theme for most leaders.? This happens on a regular basis in some form or another, and in some part of every organization, but nobody wants to be the one to call it out.?

Duke gives a fabulous example of how one can always change their mind about something in general (in their personal capacity), if there’s no ‘official’ stamp or outcome at stake attached to it. For instance, she says, if we buy stock for long-term gains, but our stock tanks, we will immediately sell. ?If we want to climb Mount Everest on a beautiful day, but the weather warning predicts an incoming blizzard later in the day, we will actually quit what we set out to do midway. ?

However, in business, leaders are paralysed into inaction because they can’t walk away. ?Too much has been invested and too much is sunk already to turn back – and ironically, if they don’t, they are anyway likely to sink further until they are forced to quit.

Why is quitting easier when we are thinking about the mountain blizzard or the stock, but not about the project or the innovation that isn’t going anywhere? Duke brings us to one of the best examples ever - 'monkeys and pedestals' (the mental model that has been built by the CEO of Google’s in-house innovation hub.)

Monkeys and pedestals, which is the problem

“Imagine that you’ve decided that you’re going to create an act to make a lot of money, and the act is that you’re going to train a monkey to juggle flaming torches while standing on a pedestal in the town square. People will obviously throw a lot of money in the hat for that.? So my question for you is, if you’re going to do that, what part of the problem should you tackle first? Should you figure out if you can train the monkey to juggle the flaming torches first? Or should you build the pedestal first?” (from Duke's interview)

Duke tells us to identify the problem or challenge first in any scenario. In this one, which one is the problem? The monkey or the pedestal?

Obviously, the monkey.

You can build the pedestal and feel like you accomplished a big thing already, and you will feel like you have actually progressed in your act. However, what if you can’t train the monkey? The monkey is the problem and yet, at first, a business leader might solely be focused on building the pedestal, for all the reasons above.

Finally, the third most important thing that Duke brings out is "the pedestal that we’ve built actually stops us from quitting the dead-end act."

In the current state of business, cutthroat competition in every sphere and emerging technologies are already impacting, and in some cases, changing the ideologies of companies.? Invested leaders are not likely to dismantle the pedestals they have built, proposing innovations that appear to be within easy grasp and ready to change the world.

The pedestal, according to Duke, is the dangerous “low hanging fruit that we speak of in meeting rooms."? Doing things that make us think and feel like we are making progress, are things that actually hold us back because…we can’t find that monkey who is willing to be trained to juggle flaming torches.?

Business leaders are trapped into a situation of their own creating and eventually lose more than they bargain for when they set out on this path.? Those running P&L centers shouldn't focus on the sunk costs or seek comfort in getting identified by the projects they've launched, and thus, in effect, becoming and remaining tied to them in a way that they can’t quit. ?

The act of quitting is seen as negative, weak and a failure when its actually the opposite.? When you know your monkey won’t perform, and you decide to quit that act, it is courageous, and you’re willing to call a spade, a spade, and move on to the next thing. ?However, as Duke says, though grit is a whole different matter as it points to your staying power in a tough situation, "there also you should know what is worth fighting for", and when to quit.

Get new monkeys for 2024

Coming back to our personal dreams and projects, which are increasingly being shunted out in the “never give up” corporate career, it might be a great idea to take stock of the pedestals we have built over the years.?

That book we never finished writing; the painting that stands unframed, and therefore unfit for exhibiting; the trip that has an entire notebook of planned activities but doesn’t seem to make it on the vacation calendar; the study course that was bought ages ago but hasn't been completed - and yet, we’re unwilling to discard and move on, because we believe it’s better to have a pedestal than nothing at all to show to the world.? Especially, in the age of influencers and overnight success phenomena. Fake comfort in fruitless industry inevitably becomes the norm.

I remember meeting a stylish woman in 2006 in Chennai, an acquaintance of a U.S. based visiting filmmaker, at a night club. Over drinks, I learned that this woman was writing a book. I was in awe of her - her whole personality - and the fact that she was a 'real' writer with a cash advance from a US publisher. Through the evening, I continued to be mesmerized by her persona - the ease with which she gulped down bottles of wine and talked about books, and the cash advance she was using to visit india and do research. Everything she talked about made me wish I was her. What she was doing - traveling, researching, writing, drinking wine in expensive night clubs, hanging out with other creative folks - sounded like a dream job to me.

That evening, I had no pedestals to talk about, and I felt rather low. Later, after the woman had left, when I was leaving the nightclub with my filmmaker friend, I told her that I was really impressed with what this woman had achieved. I remember my friend's expression, it was between a smirk and a laugh, and she said to me, sarcastically, 'She's been working on several books for the last five years or more. Nobody takes her seriously. The only thing she does is drink wine and talk about the book. I doubt if she's got an advance from anyone for writing. It's all an act.'

It is a fact that nobody wants to lose or give up because quitting is a defeatist word. Everyone wants to be strong and persist through the problems.? They would rather pretend that they're creating something valuable or unique, and so they're allowed to 'take their time' and 'let it happen' even if there's no real progress. The illusion of progress is very important to evade quitting.

However, as a society, it is necessary now more than ever to know when to quit with dignity and self-awareness.? It will help us progress by making faster decisions, embrace changes and new ideas, save precious time and resources, learn from past failures, and focus on what has a chance to blossom.

In 2024, at your workplace or at life, one can start over as everyone aspires to do with a list of new year resolutions. In my view, the 'Quitting List' should be on top of your 2024 agenda. It could be a habit, or a food, or a project, or a dream, or even a self-deprecating narrative that's doing more harm than good.

If we want to build that pedestal, we first need to find out what is the bottleneck or the unknown that we will be encountering. If we’re not sure we can solve the problem, and emerge victorious on the other side, we should quit when the skies are still sunny and before the mountain blizzard arrives.

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Check out Annie Duke’s interview.

This interview is an excerpt from “The Provocateurs” podcast, a collaboration between Thinkers50 and Deloitte US. It has been edited for length and clarity. The views and opinions expressed by interview subjects are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte. This interview provides general information only and is not intended to constitute advice or services of any kind.? Listen to the full interview, which was produced in collaboration with Deloitte US, at?https://thinkers50.com/ep15

?About Annie Duke: Before becoming one of the top poker players in the world, Duke studied cognitive science and decision-making, and she currently works as a special partner for decision science at First Round Capital, a US-based venture fund focused on the seed stage. She’s the author of?Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away?and?Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts.?

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