The story about the ten monkeys and what it tells us about culture

A scientist put ten monkeys in a cell. In the corner was a ladder with a bunch of bananas at the top. A monkey started to climb the ladder and received a mild electric shock causing him to abandon his efforts. Each monkey tried and failed to reach the bananas. The scientist then replaced one monkey with a new one. The new monkey was dissuaded by his colleagues when attempting to approach the ladder. The scientist continued to replace the monkeys one by one. Eventually, the cell contained ten “new” monkeys, none of whom would go near the ladder and none of whom knew why.

This was not an actual experiment; it’s just a story. But it gets us thinking about culture. We see it in organisations when a new hire asks questions about why things are done a certain way. Rather than use this as an opportunity to assess why indeed we do it this way, usually the response is some verbal shoulder-shrugging and non-engagement.

A new hire is a valuable asset in more ways than one. They have a fresh perspective that needs to be tapped into by the organisation for useful insights. Having expended all that effort to identify and recruit this person it is a pity to so often see the organisation fail to get the maximum return on that investment. We need to be aware that “culture eats everything” and we need to bring about a culture of openness and curiosity. Lean thinking encourages us to think not just about the way we do things but also why.