I spoke to a large group of leaders recently about the apocryphal “Five Monkeys Experiment.” *
The way the story goes, a group of scientists placed five monkeys in a cage, and in the middle of the cage they placed a ladder with bananas on top.
Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.
The monkeys did not like getting soaked, so pretty soon, every time a monkey would start up the ladder, the others would pull it down and beat it up.
After a while, no monkey would dare try climbing the ladder, no matter how great the temptation.
The scientists then decided to replace one of the monkeys. Of course the new monkey saw the bananas right away, and the first thing this new monkey did was start to climb the ladder to get to the bananas. Immediately, the others pulled him down and beat him up.
After several beatings, the new monkey learned never to go up the ladder, even though there was no evident reason not to, aside from the beatings.
A second monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The first monkey even participated in the beating of the second monkey. A third monkey was changed and the same was repeated. The fourth monkey was changed, resulting in the same, before the fifth was finally replaced as well.
What was left was a group of five monkeys that – without ever having received a cold shower – continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder.
If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they beat up on all those who attempted to climb the ladder, I wonder if their likely answer would be “I don’t know. It’s just how things are done around here.”*
I then discussed how “the way things are done around here” is actually a succinct definition of the culture of an organization.
Over the years, all groups or organizations develop routines, habits and practices, which we call the “organizational culture”. As I am sure you know, these cultures can be remarkably different, in terms of what sort of behavior they value, what they don’t like to see, and what they punish. These habits and conventions have been developed over the course of many years. Very often, nobody actually remembers why they were started in the first place……quite possibly, the guy with the water hose has long gone.
And yet still, we beat up the new monkeys. The new ideas. The new questions, suggestions, processes and systems.
Edgar Schein talks about the organizational culture as the: “unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts and feelings. The ultimate source of values and action.” This is the part that of the organization that you see on the surface but don’t know “the why” underneath. Often, these assumptions conflict with the “artifacts” and “values” that are talked about and written on posters and at meetings.
Example: A worldwide accounting firm is exceedingly proud of their strong culture of caring for their employees. Everything from their new employee orientation to their performance management program focuses on employee engagement, on work life balance, on wellness. They offer competitive compensation, amazing benefits, have 6% 401k match, and put their money where their mouth is with subsidizing gym memberships and childcare for employees.
Last year, an employee of two years put in a vacation request. The manager responded: “What are you talking about? You just took a vacation last year. It’s unreasonable that you should be expecting a vacation every 6 months. Request denied.”
That employee became a mentor to several other individuals, and quickly explained that what they learned in orientation about work-life balance was erroneous; they would actually be considered lazy and uncommitted if they were transparent about their time off. There would be negative consequences for taking advantage of the available vacation time.
Year after year, the unspoken rule is handed down, and the energy and excitement of hearing the values at orientation gives way to cynicism and silence.
Sometimes, organizational learning can last longer than necessary.
What’s the point? Be careful not to pour cold water on people and their ideas whenever someone tries something new. That can lead to other employees suppressing innovation, and learned helplessness spreading throughout the organization.
Don’t just beat up the new monkey – whether it is a new employee, a recent acquisition or a partner; a change, opinion, feeling or choice. There are always some parts of our culture that need to be preserved, and some parts that deserve to be questioned. The healthy organization replaces the water hose with a listening ear.
*Source: This story, a modern day fable, was inspired in part by the experiments of G.R. Stephenson, found in “Cultural acquisition of a specific learned response among rhesus monkeys“ as well as certain experiments with chimpanzees conducted by Wolfgang Kohler in the 1920s. Over the years, it was pieced together to form the urban legend as it now stands.
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