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The Monkey Parable and Resistance to Change
Once upon a time, some researchers conducted an experiment. They obtained five monkeys and placed them into a single cage. In the center of the cage was a stairway that terminated in thin air. After a hungry night in the cage, the monkeys saw a researcher lowering a bunch of bananas through the bars above the stairs. The monkeys immediately charged up the stairs toward the food. Other researchers immediately blasted the monkeys with ice cold water from fire hoses, played tapes of loud, discordant music, and turned on strobe lights. They repeated these actions every time they lowered the bananas into the cage. It didn't take the monkeys long to refuse to set foot on the stairs.
Once this conditioning had taken effect, the researchers removed one of the monkeys from the cage and replaced him with a 2nd-generation monkey. Down came the bananas. The new monkey raced for the stairs. Before he could set foot on the bottom step, the other four monkeys grabbed him and beat him down, not wanting to experience a repeat of the previous few days' unpleasantness. No icy bath, strobe lights, or discordant music resulted. This was repeated until all of the 1st generation monkeys had been replaced by 2nd generation monkeys, none of which had experied the unpleasantness through which the 1st generation had lived.
Once the 2nd generation monkeys were completely conditioned, one of them was removed from the cage and replaced with a 3rd generation monkey. Down came the bananas. The newest monkey dashed for the food, was caught at the bottom of the stairs, and beaten down, just as the 2nd generation monkeys were beaten down by the 1st generation monkeys. During the beat-down, the new monkey cried "Why are you guys beating me?" The beat down stopped and the four 2nd-generation monkeys looked around at each other. Finally, one of them replied..."I don't know, it's just that we've always done it that way."
Hopefully, fire-rescue and EMs personnel aren't so conditioned to "We've always done it that way" that we act like the monkeys in the story. We're supposed to be smarter than monkeys.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Michael C. Harrison on June 9, 2009 at 3:08pm
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Ben Waller.....finally something that we agree on.
I can't think of a better way (or a more appropriate way) of trying to inform people that they truly have to think for themselves.
I believe there are way too many people in the fireservice today that are willing to jump on ANY and EVERY bandwagon that rides by.
Too bad there isn't a way to force people into thinking for themselves.
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Comment by Dave on June 8, 2009 at 12:03pm
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Also, I know you have been going round and round with Mike on that other forum. I don't agree with him on the 1.5 thing, but I do see his ooint on other depts jumping onboard because this is how they do it in the fdny. :ow we do things in Boston may or maynot work in SC. Building construction amoung many other things vary from... Well hell neighborhood to neighborhood! Can't write that this is the only correct way to do things. A Boston triple decker is equal to three homes. tactics are different everywhere you go. We as a service have to see that and be aware that how LA fights fire is not going to be the same as how DCFD is going to. One thing is constant, fire is hot, fire will kill ya, and prevention is the best way to put out a fire!
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Good point Ben! Point well taken. We have to constantly keep looking at doing things safer and make the changes in our sog's and tactics, but we also have to be aware that the way we do it today was not the exact same way my great grandfather did it in 1912. We as a fire service have to be aware that why we do things have come from fallen brothers and sisters! So the question might be, if the first monkeys didn't do it, maybe there is a reason why they didn't run up that stairway!! Then again, monkeys don't talk!!! =)
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Comment by Mick Mayers on June 8, 2009 at 9:27am
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Ahhh, now THERE is wisdom. I'm afraid I hadn't heard that one before, but I certainly like it. Hope all is well back on The Rock (or shall I say, "The Sand Bar"?)
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