IT'S ALWAYS BEEN DONE THAT WAY

Thank you to Sefu Bernard for sharing this bit of critical inspiration via awesome blog thellabb.

It's about the choice we all have the ability to make.  Do things the right way or do things the way they've always been done.  Organization and people who chose the former are the one driven by strong leadership. 

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards to the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Likewise, replace a third monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then a fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the new monkey.

After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana?

Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how company policy begins.

The most damaging phrase in the language is, “It’s always been done that way.”

(Admiral Grace Hopper, 1906-1992)

Have you ever been in an environment where things are done a certain way only because "...it's always been done that way"...? Or, perhaps, are you leading that environment?

The thought that we coach the way we were coached has been one that I wrestle with quite a bit. And then, recently, a close friend took it a step further when he said to me, "We coach the way we were parented."

Don't just do things because that's the way it was done before you; or, because you had success with that approach 10 years ago. Continually assess and find new ways to engage the people you work with.