Don’t monkey around with organizational change on Organization Insight, LLC

Don’t monkey around with organizational change

Published: December 2012

When I wasn’t quaking in my waterproof shoes walking across a swaying footbridge high above a lush rainforest in Costa Rica, I was listening intently as our guide described the complex eco-system of the forest.

Jose told incredible stories about how plants, animals and even the atmosphere compete and cooperate to sustain the delicate balance of life in the forest. One story in particular stood out, perhaps because of its sobering relevance to my own practice as a facilitator of organizational change.

When the Hanging Bridges tour was opened, well-meaning guides were motivated to provide visitors with a memorable experience. Specifically, people wanted to see wildlife and especially, monkeys.

Yet a rainforest is not a zoo. Monkeys and other fauna are not just hanging around waiting to entertain us; they have other priorities. So in order to satisfy tourists’ desire to see wildlife, guides inconspicuously dropped banana pieces on the trail, which monkeys found irresistible (just to be clear, bananas are not a natural food for monkeys regardless of how many Curious George books you have read).

Here is what happened when pregnant monkeys ate the bananas – the high level of potassium in the bananas led their fetuses to grow abnormally large. This resulted in impossibly painful and lethal births for both babies and mother monkeys.

The story gets worse: surviving generations of baby monkeys never learned how to independently find food; rather, they became literally dependent on handouts.

Until this pattern was discovered, and discontinued, the well-intended intervention of the tour guides was killing generations of monkeys. This had enormous ramifications for the fragile eco-system, not to mention the disappointed tourists.

Since our visit to Costa Rica, I think of this story whenever I’m engaged with a client as an ‘outside consultant.’ Jose unwittingly helped me realize that we are, in a way, tour guides, trying to help clients achieve their objectives by developing insights and inspiring behavior change.

What I, and others, sometimes neglect is that our well-intentioned efforts might lead to outcomes that could be less than beneficial. We can inadvertently encourage dependency; we can undermine natural processes and systems.

I’ve seen this in my own practice at times, particularly when clients ask me to help them ‘manage change’ in their organizations. Often, what they really want is for someone else to communicate a difficult message that they, themselves, should be taking responsibility for (like ‘do more with less’ or some other veiled demand).

When I’ve let my ego get the better of me and become that messenger, I actually left people more dependent on me, and less capable of communicating with each other in the aftermath of ‘the intervention.’

But when I am mindful of my experience in the rainforest, I remember to respect the fragile eco-systems of client work environments, and to more carefully study potential ramifications before dropping bananas on the trail.

Comments (9)

Larry says:

06/12/2012 at 7:08 pm

Love the before and after picture in today’s blog. I also found your comments to be true especially in my own experience. we often bring outside firms in, not to communicate their ideas, but to communicate our ideas as theirs. It somehow creates credibility and a scapegoat if something goes worng with the change. It continually amazes me that senior folks won’t step up and be directly accountable.

rob says:

06/12/2012 at 9:56 pm

Yes its amazing what a good haircut can do for a guy! Re your comment, I can imagine in the world of IT, where there is high risk and high expense bringing in new technology, that the scenario you portray could play out in unfortunate ways. Hopefully, these are not the majority of cases…

Sarah says:

06/12/2012 at 8:19 pm

Terrific insight Rob–as usual. Something I often say to clients as we’re getting to know one another is “if I do my job right, I’ll work myself out of a job.” Of course they may call for some different need, but it does feel best when I can leave them better off and highly functioning, which usually is a result of me doing a good job of keeping my bananas to myself!

Marty says:

07/12/2012 at 3:16 am

A trenchant story to keep in mind in the jungle out there….

Peggy says:

07/12/2012 at 5:34 am

I love the message here Rob, this is such a great metaphor. Your story reminds me that our seemingly well-intentioned bananas are often simply feeding our own lizard brains and not our clients’ best interests.

Debbie says:

07/12/2012 at 2:58 pm

Great metaphor, as always!
I always appreciate your mindfulness on this topic as your support our change efforts at Macy’s.
All the Best,
Debbie

Cyndi Briggs says:

08/12/2012 at 3:25 pm

GREAT stuff! I once consulted with a school system that had a dysfunctional counseling department. The administrators clearly wanted me to “fix it” by re-delivering edicts from on high that had gone ignored. The staff was so disempowered and beat down. I focused instead on how they could empower themselves to make change. I feel I helped the staff but failed the administration’s intentions. It was a great lesson to me about my role as a consultant. EXCELLENT post!

david says:

10/12/2012 at 9:30 pm

Nice point Cyndi. Your example reminds me of a few times when I lost sight of who my client was. Its so easy to do. If I’m not careful, I can get seduced into adding value out of my good intentions, in a way that is not aligned with what the ultimate client wanted. When Rob and I coach each other, we find ourselves repeatedly asking the other, “now, who is your client again?”