You must be thinking: what on earth is the five monkeys’ experiment? I thought the five monkeys just jumped on a bed until they all fell off. However, that is not the analogy in the software world. 

Imagine: you, a researcher, put five monkeys into a cage, and there’s a bunch of bananas dangling from a string but are only accessible by a ladder. When monkey number one tries to go for the bananas, the researcher then sprays all five of them with freezing water for five minutes.

After a while, the second monkey then attempts to grab a banana, but inevitably does not succeed because the researcher sprays them again, this time only with cold water. When the third monkey attempts, the other four swarm the ladder because they are afraid of more retribution. The researcher then begins replacing each monkey one at a time with a new one that was not involved with the water experiment.

In short, the new monkeys learn quickly not to go for temptation, especially if it's bananas. If the researcher hypothesized asking the monkeys why they refrained from going for the bananas, the answer would be “because that’s the way it’s always been done”.

Now, what can we take away from the five monkeys’ experiment?

There has been discussion if the five monkeys’ experiment even actually occurred. Even just as an analogy, there’s a lot that business owners and CEOs can learn. A major take away from the experiment is that it explains a lot about persuasiveness of traditions within an organization.

Traditions are a common factor in every organization, especially if the bulk of the workforce has been around for a while. With that being said, sometimes those tried and true traditions can often be destructive to the progress in the workplace. This is especially the case when new employees are introduced and aren’t allowed to express new ideas. 

If businesses only ever focus on doing a project the way it’s always been done, because “that’s how it’s done”, more often than not, organizations will be blinded without knowing the new ways they can get the “banana”, also known as the end goal. 

Consequently, the five monkeys’ experiment demonstrates 3 important lessons that we need to always be thinking about:

1. To change perspective on an idea and the way we look at things in general

2. To question things that seem off

3. To limit the use of the phrase “we’ve always done it this way” to avoid trying new ways of doing something

In short, if we want the “banana”, sometimes we need to work a little harder for it by coming up with creative ways to strive or even letting new employees try new techniques.

You Want to Avoid the Five Monkeys’ Experiment “Syndrome”:

There is certainly no hiding the idea of digital and cloud transformation growing so rapidly, forcing the way employees communicate while working with one another.

This means that having a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset will no longer be a viable method on how to operate your organization.

Here are 2 crucial questions to take into consideration:

1. Does your organization’s culture encourage open dialogue and collaboration?

In this era, it is important that you take the time to integrate open dialogue and collaboration within your workplace. This is because it helps with keeping your employees interested in continuing to work with you.

Collaboration is a huge part of the workforce today – it is not only encouraged by employees it is demanded!

We use Cloud-based programs such as Office 365, Skype for Business, Workplace by Facebook, and others. When we use these programs it gives us the opportunity to show our employees the value of their input as well as the face that we are open to accepting additional options or opinions. This is a completely opposite spectrum to the five monkeys’ experiment.

2. Does your organization reward and recognize innovative thinkers?

We don’t want to look like robot employees, we want to be able to engage with our employees, and we can do this by rewarding and encouraging them.

To help do this while avoiding the five monkeys’ syndrome, we must encourage our employees to look for new techniques to reach the “banana”. In the process of this we can recognize the employees who come up with new ideas, or even if they fail.

In this circumstance, failure is not a negative, failure is something that everyone can learn from. Just ask Elon Musk.

Do you think your organization is stuck in a Five Monkeys’ Experiment?

The lessons learned from the five monkeys’ experiment are understandable and we need to stop pushing away our creativity with cold water. We need to make it possible for every employee to express themselves and take risks. As well as accepting the failure that may come.

Creating and promoting a better, more innovative workplace one day at a time.

If you’re looking to break through from your very own Five Monkeys’ Experiment, then reach out and talk to one of our experts here at ISU Corp!