Experiment with Monkey Behavior
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a
string and put a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the
stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs,
spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After awhile, another monkey makes an
attempt with the same result. Pretty soon, when any monkey tries to climb the
stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, turn off 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 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. Again, replace a third original monkey
with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two
of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to
climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest
monkey.
After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs. Why not? Because that's the way it's always been around here. And that's how company policy begins...