Celebrating the Monkey or Pedestal?

As a business leader, what are you celebrating & acknowledging?

Was shown the following IG post from Simon Sinek (who shall not need any introduction). It is from his podcast and interview with Dr Astro Teller. whom at the time of writing is the “Captain of Moonshots at X”.

simonsinek

A post shared by @simonsinek

If it is not convenient for you to watch the clip right now, let me share it with you in words. The question in discussion is, “If you were trying to teach a monkey to stand on top of a 10-foot pedestal and recite Shakespeare, what should you do first?”

Most of us will answer, “Train the monkey first.” Because most of us realize the pedestal is redundant until the monkey can recite Shakespeare successfully, then we can go ahead to build the pedestal which is the easiest part of the whole project. The question now is, how many projects in your organization start by building the pedestal instead and why is that the case? :)

Is it because building the pedestal and making it big, shiny, and aesthetically pleasing is what is celebrated in your organization? That is the part of the project that gains the most benefits for the team if more people take notice. So a very elaborate opening ceremony for the finished pedestal was planned, but forgot to train the monkey or move on to another shiny project, and from then on the project of having a monkey reciting Shakespeare on a pedestal to attract tourists went up in smoke. And the rest of the organization scratching their head how come with all these shiny ongoing projects, the organization does not seem to have advanced?

There are many lessons to be learnt here but I would like to focus on a leadership perspective because that is what Simon Sinek is about too. :)

As a Business Leader, What Are You Celebrating?

With this context, as a business leader, or manager, it is important to ask ourselves what are we celebrating, giving recognition and credit to. Are we celebrating folks who start with building the pedestal or are we celebrating the folks who start with training the monkey first?

What, as business leaders we celebrate, basically reinforces certain behaviors in the organization thus we must celebrate the right things so that the best behavior is reinforced and going forward the employee can be trusted to do the right thing. It is part and parcel of culture building in the organization.

Another perspective is some tasks can take a lot of effort that is not seen when the output is deployed. In this case, we know that a lot of effort is expended to train the monkey. If this part of the project is successful, it should be celebrated and recognized. As business leaders, we need to understand the amount of effort that is needed behind each task, and celebrate completed and successful tasks that require a lot of effort, and its output is essential to the overall project’s success. Celebrate the wrong tasks and their output, and the wrong behavior will emerge in the organization and it can be a slippery road down to a toxic culture.

Conclusion

What you are celebrating as a business leader is important because it may encourage the wrong behavior, leading to an organization that seems to have a lot of success but nothing concrete and impactful is completed. Also, try to understand the amount of effort that is needed behind each task and celebrate those that require a lot and are essential to success.

What are your thoughts on this? After watching the clip, what other lessons did you get from it? Will be keen to hear from you! :)

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