Disruption? No Prob for a Rogue Monkey Like You
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
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by Cyndee Miller
The rogue monkey gets the banana. Researchers first made the discovery in the late 1970s, but the lesson remains for project leaders looking to keep pace with disruption.
Let’s peel this one back: In Jamil Qureshi’s opening keynote at PMI EMEA Congress in Dublin, Ireland, he told the tale of one monkey that chose not to believe the evidence put forth by its monkey colleagues that came before. It questioned the bias of its environment, adjusted its mindset—and was rewarded for its defiance. Seeing any parallels?
“I cannot tell you the value of a rogue monkey in your organization,” said Mr. Qureshi, a psychologist and performance coach. “Every single thing worth having on this earth has come from rogue monkey thinking.”
The greatest inhibitor to human performance, Mr. Qureshi said, is a steadfast adherence to our belief systems. (We all have them. Trust me, you’re no magical exception.) “We prove ourselves right even when we’re wrong, and that’s the problem.”
We must be willing to change the way we think. It’s the foundation of our decision-making process. “We think, we feel and then we act,” he said.
Hold off on the grand gestures, though.
“Proving ourselves as leaders is not about doing something dramatic. It’s about doing something a little bit more, more consistently,” said Mr. Qureshi. True leaders look inward, find what they already do well—and do more of it.
None of this will go very far without proper motivation, however. We’re drawn toward our most dominant thoughts, he says. And if those thoughts sound like “don’t fail” …? Um, we’re in trouble—our subconscious will only hear “fail.”
“People who are truly disruptive are motivated by what they seek to achieve, not by what they seek to avoid,” he said.
That’s how you move teams “from transactional to transformational.” The really bold ideas come from making the connection between two previously unconnected things. Look at PayPal, Spotify or Skype. “It took someone outside the sectors to give us what we wanted,” said Mr. Qureshi. Too often, companies and project teams are bad at being different—but the future demands it. “The only way to stay future relevant and future literate is to think about what the customer is valuing all the time, not what we wish to sell.”
So, are you ready to go rogue?
Posted
by
cyndee miller
on: May 14, 2019 03:16 AM |
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Comments (4)
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A great post, thanks for sharing...…. start behaving in a way which is not deemed normal or expected.... I'm certainly en-route ...….
Aditya Lal
Program Director| Sita Corp
Belle Mead, Nj, United States
Rogue Monkey ... huh .... a perfect phrase for today's world. Many of my stakeholders may vouch for my "rogue monkey" behavior. Nice, wonderful and relevant article. Thank You for sharing this.
Priya Patra
Delivery Director| Capgemini India Technology Services Ltd
Mumbai, India
Well covered. Jamil was amazing. i remember his three tips
1. Think, Feel, Act
2. Event response = Outcomes
3. Change your belief systems, people are motivated by what they can achieve not by what they cannot.
Nice article, thanks.
Agreed with Priya and Aditya.
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