New Questions For Managing Monkeys
You end up overwhelmed, under-appreciated, and angry, if you own other people’s monkeys.
Someone walks into your office with an issue – a monkey. Make sure they walk out with their monkey.
Pronouns explain ownership. Don’t use ‘we’ when you mean ‘you’.
3 pronouns:
- ‘You’ – The monkey stays in their zoo. They own the issue. Responsibilities are theirs.
- ‘We’ – The monkey is shared. “We will fix this.” Responsibilities are shared. Beware of adding unnecessary layers of complexity by sharing too many monkeys with team members.
- ‘I’ – The monkey moves to your cage. You own this issue. Responsibilities are yours.
Useful endings:
The end of a coaching conversation is the moment to clarify goals, deadlines, and responsibilities. Who does what, by when?
An office manager taught me how to structure questions around responsibility.
- ‘What do you need to do to move the ball forward?’ (The monkey is theirs.)
- ‘What do you need from me to move the ball forward?’ (Shared ownership of the monkey.)
- ‘What do I need to do to move the ball forward?’ (The monkey is yours.)
“The way you structure a question determines the response.” Brandie Moroskie
Accountability question:
‘What do you want me to ask you the next time we meet?’
- Write their accountability question down.
- Modify their question, if necessary. ‘I’ll also ask about … .’
- Ask it during your next coaching conversation.
How might managers and leaders manage their monkeys?
How might leaders clarify ownership and responsibility?
How might managers and leaders manage their monkeys?
Differentiate between right and wrong, values and morals particularly.
Search out viable solutions for all parties, easier said than done. Sometimes you can’t please everyone, accept that and move on!
How might leaders clarify ownership and responsibility?
Know the topics being addressed. Clarify ones expectations.
Don’t leave “Gotcha’s” on the table, be clear in your statements.
Thanks Tim. Your introduction of values into this conversation peaks my interest. Sometimes we say we believe in personal ownership/responsibility, but sometimes we protect people from challenges where they can take ownership.
There’s a difference between being helpful and owning someone’s responsibilities for them. One is kind. The other suggest the people around us are incapable.
Dan,
Yes at times “we are incapable”, falls under life’s experiences and education as well. We all have to learn.
William Onchen wrote about Managing Monkeys about 30 years ago – classic, great stuff in what I recall was Harvard Business Review.
I wrote a blog about engaging them a couple of years ago and I will update that momentarily because of Dan’s thoughts.It is a slightly different framework. My post is at
http://performancemanagementcompanyblog.com/2012/10/24/dis-un-engagement-and-the-lesson-of-the-monkeys/
This is a really simple metaphor but one with broad impacts, this “managing monkeys” stuff. Thanks for sharing, Dan. Those monkeys represent a different spin from my notion of Spectator Sheep…
Merry Christmas, all. And have a bright shiny New Year as you involve and engage the monkeys with some polish and some challenges.
,
Thanks Dr. Scott. I appreciate you extending the conversation. Merry Christmas to you, too!
I spent a few minutes updating that old blog of mine, adding your pronouns and trying to broaden my links to issues of dis-un-empowerment. You are backlinked to this article and there is other food for thought, I think.
http://performancemanagementcompanyblog.com/2016/12/23/monkeys-management-and-motivation-simple-ideas/
Have fun out there!
“Not my circus, not my monkeys” is sometimes the only way to play this game.
Todd Whitaker wrote a book that draws the monkey analogy out in some practical ways… ‘Shifting the Monkey’. Worth a look if this concept resonates with you.