Monkey See...Monkey Do

At Elevation we are constantly re-doing, re-tooling, re-engineering our systems. As rapidly as we've grown, so has the need for changing how we do ministry. But with any growing organization that are areas that develop bad habits and unhealthy practices. As I've been thinking through this process I stumbled across the story of "8 Monkeys in a Room"

Eight monkeys are placed in a room. There is a ladder in the room and at the top of the ladder is a big bunch of bananas. The monkeys are fed adequate but unappetizing food. For the first week anytime a monkey climbs the ladder, a nozzle drenches all the monkeys with ice cold water. Soon, anytime a monkey starts to climb the ladder, all the other monkeys gang up on him and beat him senseless to avoid being punished.

One monkey is removed, and another new takes his place. Not knowing about the ice water punishment, he approaches the ladder. All the other monkeys proceed to beat him to a pulp. Every time he gets near the ladder, he’s pummeled.

A second monkey is replaced and the same thing happens to him. But now, even the first replacement monkey joins in the beating. A third is replaced…a fourth. Eventually all the original monkeys have been replaced. The new 8 monkeys have never experienced the ice water punishment, yet anytime one of them approaches the ladder, the rest of them gang up on him.

As you train and develop your people, what systems and practices are going on that have trained or taught the wrong things....and the people doing it don't even know it? What unhealthy practices need to be re-train? What priorities need to be re-arranged? What systems need to re-constructed?