Hey, Nice Monkey!

Are you tired of letting others (employees, friends, family) transfer their unresolved problems to you instead of handling them on their own — or at least trying to?

When I think about what it means to take personal responsibility for outcomes, I recall the story of the overworked manager trying to manage an office full of noisy, impatient monkeys. He realized that he had created the situation by allowing his employees to transfer their monkeys (unresolved problems) to him instead finding their own solutions.

The man could see that by allowing his employees to “delegate up” he was depriving them of the opportunity to learn and develop their skills. Since the employee was so close to the issue there was a good chance that they could find the answers, if they were empowered and encouraged to do so.

I had the same problem when I was a new manager. Exhausted from working late every day and spending Saturdays playing catch up I knew something had to change, I just didn’t know what. Luckily I read that story and recognized that I too was guilty of accepting other people’s monkeys. So, at the next staff meeting I shared my recent Aha! and asked my employees to change their approach. I called it the “One to Three Formula for Problem Resolution”: For every problem you present to me you must also bring three potential solutions.

Once the employees assumed a greater share of responsibility the entire organization benefited. Departments who were fond of finger-pointing were forced to collaborate with each other to find solutions. Employees who used to complain that the status quo wasn’t working were challenged to find a better way.

As for me? I spent my Saturdays taking golf lessons. Even though I ended up to be a lousy golfer, I decided that a bad day on the golf course was eons better than being stuck in my office with a bunch of screaming monkeys.

This week when someone wants you to fix a problem ask them to return with their own ideas for resolving the issue.