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 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 original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the 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 newest monkey.
After replacing all 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 a company policy begins.
-------------------- Jay Allen ShawCraft Sign Co. Machesney Park, IL jallen222@aol.com http://www.shawcraft.com/
"The object of the superior man is truth." -Confucius Posts: 1285 | From: Machesney Park, IL, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for that explaination Jay. I've always wondered what sort of training that Sign Code Enforcement Officers go through to make their thinking so deeply ingrained.
-------------------- Ken Henry Henry & Henry Signs London, Ontario Canada (519) 439-1881 e-mail: kjmlhenry@rogers.com
Why do I get all those on-line offers to sell me Viagara, when the only thing hardening is my arteries ? Posts: 2684 | From: London,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Feb 1999
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I thought you were describing the development of some of the flame fests here in Letterville.
It sure does seem to apply to code enforcement and, in some cases, to corporate sign procurement.
One time, I was asked to letter a sign according to some blue prints--the layout was absolutely terrible! I knew the architect named on the prints and talked to him. He had just tossed some copy on a box to show that it was the sign. After a few monkeys got removed from the cage, the layout became gospel. This monkey’s uncle finally convinced that whole herd of the need for a proper design by going to the original ape for backup and the sign was built aesthetically. No other simpering simian wanted to be responsible for any decisions.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5092 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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The story of "the hundredth monkey" goes on to say that once a certain percentage of a population has "learned" a behavior, other monkeys in other cages, having never had contact with these original monkeys, will adopt the "learned" behavior through some sort of cosmic osmosis. I think the book was a sort of parable, but used facts from actual research. The parable was about the spread of peace though, rather then violence. (Not always quite as believable)
First thing you need is a bottle with an opening that is smaller then the bottle diameter. An old milk bottle would be perfect!
Now tie a rope around the bottle and fasten it firmly to a stake or tree. Place a peanut in the bottle, then find a good place to hide and watch.
Before long a monkey will come along and spot one of his favorite treats in the bottle. Watch closely as the monkey inserts his paw into the bottle and grasps his prize.
It's at this very instant you must pounce. The monkey cannot release his hand from the bottle with the peanut in his hand. He could release the peanut and make his escape, but he worries about losing his peanut in the process. He hesitates long enought for you to catch him.
Are some of us holding onto a peanut. Are we so afraid of losing that peanut to escape and explore other possibilities? Are we settling for a small peanut when a whole field of peanuts is out there waiting? Something to think about.
This is the sort of stuff that runs thru my brain at 5am. I'm off to bed. Good post Jay@ You got me thinking.
-------------------- Steve Shortreed 144 Hill St., E. Fergus, Ontario Canada N1M 1G9 519-787-2673
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And on a similar theme is the story of the young wife, newly-wed, who went to cook her hubby a roast chook (chicken)in the new oven in the new house. She halved it, and roasted each half separately. "Why do you do that?" he asked her. "Because that's just how you do it" "Yes, but why?" "That's how mum taught me. That's how you have to do it. That's the way it's done. Don't argue..." "Why does your mum halve the chicken then, can we ask her?" "OK, I suppose...(meaning 'I wish you wouldn't!')" The reply: "That's the way I've always done it, no questions allowed" "Why?" "Well, because that's how MY mother taught ME to do it" "Do you mind if we ask her why?" "'spose not" The reply: "That's easy! In my day we only had a small oven and you couldn't fit the chook in all in one piece, you had to halve it!"
Funny how some ideas become ingrained isn't it!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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Too close to the truth, but what worries me is what happens when the monkeys finally get so hungry that they rebel, break out of the cage, start thier own company, and undercut the competition by a few bananas and corner the market.
My GOD, we may all be shopping at Chimp-Mart before you know it!
Rapid
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
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That's a classic example of what happens when conformity overcomes creative thinking, the triumph of collectivism over individualism. Yet we keep insisting that we have an obligation to society and its rules, no matter how self-defeating or pointless; that we continue to give obnoxious and idiotic ideas the benefit of a doubt, despite the evidence of horrifying results.
In case you've ever wondered what my signature quote really means, this is it.
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Go back and re-read all the responses to this post. No wonder I love this business so much (with all its shortcomings!!). I am affiliated with a bunch (no, not all - but a bunch) of bright, inquisitive, philosophical, deep-thinking advanced simians, uh, I mean artists, who regularly defy "the rules" to advance society in varied and unique ways.
Dare I say that without art and design, progress stops? Maybe so.
Always challenge conventional thought - maybe, just maybe, there IS a better way!!!
Thanks for putting a smile on my face and making me feel like I'm not alone in this world with some of my thoughts and questions. That wasn't the intention of the post - but I sure like the result. As the Aussies would say "Good on ya'".
-------------------- Jay Allen ShawCraft Sign Co. Machesney Park, IL jallen222@aol.com http://www.shawcraft.com/
"The object of the superior man is truth." -Confucius Posts: 1285 | From: Machesney Park, IL, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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