Management Stories

In this experiment, five monkeys are put into a large cage. There’s a stool in the middle of the cage and a banana is hung from the ceiling above the stool. Outside the cage, an observer has a hose filled with ice water. It hardly needs mentioning that monkeys like bananas better than ice cold showers.

Within a few minutes, the most daring of the monkeys climbs on the stool to get the banana. This effort immediately engenders an ice cold shower for all of the monkeys. Several minutes later, another monkey tries, with the same result. The monkeys quickly learn the relationship between “get on the stool” and “an ice cold shower” and choose a way to protect themselves. As soon as one monkey even tries to go near the stool, the other four jump on him, screaming and gesticulating, to stop him before the observer gets the “signal” to spray them all with ice water.

Some time and several fights later, all the monkeys have learned the rule, and become quickly indifferent to the stool, as if it weren’t even there. The defensive tactic they had imagined becomes superfluous. The banana stays where it is, safe and sound on the ceiling. Life in the cage is organized around this new reality.

At this point in the experiment, the observer takes out one of the monkeys and replaces him with a new monkey (one that doesn’t know anything about the cold shower). The new monkey immediately climbs on the stool to get the banana, and after a moment’s hesitation, the four others jump on him. The new monkey learns a quick lesson, without any action on the part of observer. The ice cold shower is no longer necessary, and the banana rots nicely on the ceiling.

The experiment continues. Each of the original four monkeys are replaced, one after another, exactly like the first replacement. Each time, the scene repeats itself: the new one tries to climb on the stool, is jumped on by the four others, until they are sure he has learned his lesson.

The rule “no one should climb on the stool” is a lesson that new monkeys learn in this group that is specific to this group and to no other.

In the end, none of the five monkeys knows why they should not get on the stool, yet they defend the law with more vehemence than the original five. No one knows that, in fact, it was a quite effective way to avoid getting an ice cold shower. None of the new monkeys ever got the ice cold shower. They were stopped before the shower came. Even though the original reason has disappeared, the rule has become a norm for this group. A self-perpetuating norm, kept in place by interactions, and never questioned.

Source: Original source unknown but I saw it a long time ago in a CGE&Y publication.

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Organizational Behavior / HR

In 1959, Play of the Week, an icon of civilization on television, was at risk of being canceled. Broadcast on Channel 13, New York’s public television station, the show offered high-quality theater week after week — including works by such writers as Eugene O’Neill, John Steinbeck, and Jean-Paul Sartre, with top talent. But the ratings were low, and sponsors were dropping out.

Ogilvy was looking for a television opportunity for his client Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (then known in the industry as “Jersey,” and later to be renamed Exxon). The company was headed by Monroe (Mike) Rathbone, who had become a friend. They worked well together. Now they had a chance to do a good thing together. Rathbone wanted to sponsor a television program that would reflect “Jersey’s” own high standards and prestige (it was the second-biggest industrial company in the world) and was not about to share the stage with TV spots for yogurts, bras, and denture cleansers. Ogilvy agreed and told the sponsors at Channel 13 he thought he could find a single company to underwrite the whole program — but only the whole program.

People at the agency and at Channel 13 went to work to persuade the few remaining underwriters to swap their spots for another program or simply cancel, so the show could go on. Company after company and agency after agency responded favorably — with one exception. Representatives of the agency Lennen & Newell Inc., which had bought one or two spots for the Lorillard Tobacco Company, balked at the request, arguing that they had made a good buy, their sole responsibility was to their client, and they would hold Channel 13 to its contract.

Ogilvy stepped in, calling a Lennen & Newell executive he knew. He went through the history of the project and made every argument he could think of, including an appeal to public spirit: It was “in the national interest” that Play of the Week should survive. The executive said he could not interfere and hung up. The program appeared to be doomed. Ogilvy sat for a moment, then picked up the phone and got the Lennen & Newell man back on the line.“

Go to your chairman immediately. Tell him that our agency will pay Lennen & Newell all the commission that will accrue [to Ogilvy & Mather] from Play of the Week sponsorship over the next two years. I will wait for your answer.”

Within five minutes, the executive was back. “You’ve got a deal.”

Gone were protestations of representing client interests. Gone were arguments about the value of the spots. Gone was any semblance of honor for the Lennen & Newell agency. But Play of the Week survived, its rescue front-page news in the New York Times. Life magazine said if there were a congressional medal for business, it should go to Standard Oil. The New York Post credited Ogilvy with the decisive role, saying his heroic save would “enshrine him in the hearts of the literate public at which he has often aimed his commercial arrows.” The tone was set at the top.

Source: The House That Ogilvy Built by Kenneth Roman | strategy+business

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Ethics / Integrity and History and Leadership and Management

In the 1930s, when I first knew the automotive industry, Alfred Sloan, who ran General Motors, would disappear from Detroit once every six weeks. Next morning he would walk into a dealership in Cincinnati or Kansas City and say, “I am Mr. Sloan from Detroit. Would you allow me to work for two days as your assistant service manager?“ When he left, customers always said, “Who was that incompetent clunk?,“ but that wasn’t the point of the exercise.

Or he would appear in Albany, New York. I know about this from the Albany dealer, who complained about it very volubly. The old man had been there and said, “Mr. Yeager, do you mind if I work for you as a salesman for three days? I don’t want any commission.“ And Mr. Yeager said, “Alfred Sloan cost me more sales than I can possibly tell you.“ The point is that when Alfred Sloan went back to Detroit from these forays, he knew customers. Since World War II, nobody in Detroit has done that.

I have not been able to get this idea across to people, even people who have been my friends for 40 years. They don’t get it because not one of them has gone to work as an assistant service manager for two days. They look at statistics; they look at “information.“

Source: Viewpoint What Executives Need to Learn by Peter Drucker | Prism, Issue 4, 1990

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Customer Related and Leadership and Management

The first [leadership lesson] I learned in the jungles of Bangalore, at an elephant camp. When you visit such a camp you see these gigantic elephants tethered with a small stake. I asked the trainer: ‘Why do they stay tethered when they could so easily pull up the stake?’ He told me: ‘Well, the elephant is tethered as a small calf; when it tries to pull up the stake, it learns it can’t do it … and it never tries again.’ That’s an amazing parable about how we always tend to underestimate ourselves. The lesson for me is: Don’t let self limitations hold you back.

Source: Vivek Paul | Knowledge@Wharton

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Career / Employment and Change Management and Leadership and Management and Organizational Behavior / HR

Charles Steinmetz was once called out of retirement by General Electric to help it locate a problem in an intricate system of complex machines. Having spent some time tinkering with and testing various parts of the system, he finally placed a chalk-marked ‘X’ on a small component in one machine. GE’s engineers promptly examined the component, and were amazed to find the defect in the precise location of Steinmetz’s mark.

Some time later, GE received an invoice from the wily engineer - for $10,000. Incredulous, they protested the bill and challenged him to itemize it. Steinmetz did so: “Making one chalk mark: $1,” he wrote. “Knowing where to place it: $9,999.”

Source: IT and Business Alignment: Finding the Mark by Ruby Gates | BetterManagement.com, July 23, 2004

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / Humor / Amusement and Miscellaneous

In 1991, we put some 900 people through a basic seven-step problem-solving course, using two approaches. About half the employees came to our central corporate training facility for standard classroom training. The other half were trained in teams, on the job. This group didn’t get trained until they were part of a team that was working on a real problem. When they got to a point where they needed help, they called in a facilitator. First they learned Step 1 and applied what they learned. They didn’t worry about Steps 2 or 3 until they needed them. You might call this just-in-time training.

Three or four months later, we surveyed the people who went through these two programs. Of those who had received just-in-time, on-the-job training, 80 percent said they felt they used what they learned. Of those who had received standard classroom training, only 30 to 40 percent felt they had actually put to use what they were taught. We think a lot differently now about how to do training.

Source: Organizational Learning: The Key to Success in the 1990s by Ray Stata | Prism, Q4 1992

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Training

In Ability Development from Age Zero, Shinichi Suzuki describes telling a violin student:

‘”Stop playing the violin for one week. There is something you must learn besides the violin. It is the spirit of doing things for other people. … To begin with, pick up your friend’s books when they have fallen…. Live by looking for things to do for other people. This is your homework for the week.”

[The student asked] “…what does doing things for other people have to do with violin practice?” …

“When listening to your performance, I could clearly feel that you were self-centered in your heart. If your heart is set to work for others, then your mind should be able to work more sensitively in an expanded world. If you do so, then more abundant, delicately beautiful expressions will enter your performance. …”

… art becomes higher as humans develop higher. …great talent and a deep, beautiful feeling in the heart are closely tied together.”‘

Source: Taken from Ability Development from Age Zero by Shinichi Suzuki, featured in hold this thought by Melissa Bledsoe Fischer

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Career / Employment and Personal Improvement and Success / Failure / Achievement

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Source: A Violinist in the Metro

2 Comments » Posted by Administrator / Miscellaneous and Organizational Behavior / HR

Positive change requires letting go of old patterns and taking a fresh approach. It demands going beyond our preconceived ideas. A story about the relationship of a teacher and student illustrates this principle. A student who thought he had it “all fgured out” would visit his teacher each day for personal lessons about life. Despite the teacher’s attempts to share her life experience, the student resisted. One day the teacher took a different approach. The teacher asked the student if he would like some tea. The teacher proceeded to set the tea table and brought in a huge pot of piping hot tea. She not only flled the student’s cup, but once the cup was full, she continued to pour. Tea overfowed, streaming onto the table and the beautiful carpet. Shocked, the student jumped up from his chair and started screaming at the teacher, “Stop! You must be crazy! You’re ruining everything! Can’t you see what you are doing?” The teacher continued her pouring as if the student weren’t present until the entire pot was empty. Only then did she look calmly at the student and respond, “If you want to receive my tea, you must keep your cup empty.”

Like a wise student, we can gain insight only if we are open to change. Change is always our teacher, pointing new directions, suggesting new options, testing our potentialities. Change challenges our current reality by forcing a new reality to rush in. If we’re open to it, if our cup is empty, new possibilities fow into our lives. If we’re not open to change, we respond to it like an enemy we have to fend off.

Source: Leading with Agility by Kevin Cashman | ChangeThis, January 2009

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Change Management and Organizational Behavior / HR

Gordon Bell, a prominent investor who funds start-ups, is very blunt with executives of firms in his portfolio. For instance, when someone makes predictions for company performance, Bell will zero in on one number and ask the CEO, “Wanna bet? A side bet, you and me, for $1,000.” If the CEO gulps, Bell knows he or she has doubts. At least once, when an underperforming CEO didn’t take the bet, Bell had him fired. You can take this notion up a notch to engage in prediction markets, set up like a stock market, where people can buy and sell shares reflecting their honest assessment of how a particular plan will play out.

Source: Seven Ways to Fail Big by Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui | Harvard Business Review, September 2008

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Entrepreneurship and Management and Organizational Behavior / HR and Success / Failure / Achievement