Are You Smarter than a Monkey?

Are you smarter than a monkey? Let’s see.

Five monkeys were placed in a room.

In the middle of the room was a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable & cold. 

Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed, jumped on him and beat him up.

Soon, none of the five monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.

All the other monkeys jump on him and beat him silly. He has no idea why.

However, after a few beatings, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder & yet was never sprayed with the ice water.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced.

The newcomer attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him, including the new monkey placed before this one, again without ever being sprayed with ice water.

He participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. 

However, he has no idea why he’s attacking the new monkey.

One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced.

Five new monkeys are now in the room. None of which have ever been sprayed by ice water. Yet, none of them ever attempt to climb the ladder for fear of the beat down. 

All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.

It’s a study in mob mentality, where others join in “just because” and it can happen almost anywhere.

More specifically, it can happen in your business and/or on your team.

It's a reflection of 2 things: (1) you and (2) whether you're a leader or a follower.

The truth is it's easy to get caught up in going with the flow and becoming part of "the way it is around here." However, easy doesn't make it right.

It takes self, and other, awareness to be a positive impact in your business culture. 

Your leadership impact is being defined by every encounter, every conversation, every decision you make. Period.

Raise the bar on yourself and become an even greater positive influence in your world.

Watch what happens from others' observations of you and your leadership. I guarantee your impact will be noticed if you remain consistent in this effort.

At the very least DO NOT get caught up in the monkey mentality of diminishing others.

Be part of the solution - never part of the problem.

Be smarter than a bunch of monkeys…add value to others instead of bringing them down. 

Lastly, if you are hanging out with people pulling you, or others, down, it might be time for a change. 

Peace

Bob

PS – this actually was a real experiment that took place…fyi.