Saturday, August 30, 2008

#2 The Tale of Sir Monkey


We know that effective communication gets us Macadamia nuts, but how do we horde more nuts (of every kind) than we could possibly consume in a life time? To answer that, let me share the tale of Sir Monkey.

Sir Monkey is very wealthy so his friends call him Rich. During his early years, he realize that by being the head monkey he would get more nuts so he started his own publication start up and worked hard at creating a good magazine. Nick, a close friend was invited to join the team and keep track of the nuts reserve they have (finance). He was very good at counting and sourcing for nuts and soon the company’s reserve was bulging and overflowing with all kinds of nuts. Rich was very happy and wished that everyone could continue to work hard together for a very long time.

However, one day Rich came across a scribble (memo) from Nick that was left on his desk by accident. To his horror, it was a petition for hand paints (signatures) to support Rich’s resignation from the company. Instead of jumping in fury, Rich calmly collected his wits and considered why Nick, his friend could have instigated such a thing. Rich then decided to invite Nick out for a chat in private. When they met up later that day at the top of the tree (building), Rich coyly mentioned that since Nick was a good friend, he felt responsible to let him know the other monkeys (colleagues) were displeased by his scribble (memo). He also suggested that the best solution was for Nick to branch off on his own and that he would help him by offering elements from the magazine for him to start with. Out of sheepish embarrassment, Nick apologized and accepted the offer. Nick thanked Rich for his honesty and wished that they could remain best friends forever.

It is clear that Rich did a great job at handling the interpersonal conflict between himself and Nick. He managed his feelings and was able to exploit EQ to his benefit. His decision to take a pause and reflect on the situation allowed him to persuade Nick to part ways amicably by addressing Nick’s inner desire to head his own company. Of course there could be myriads of other motivations that led Nick to his actions. Thus, my question to all would be to suggest an alternative cause for his action and brainstorm a solution that would result in a win-win situation for both parties.

P.S. Did you figure out who Sir Monkey is? Hint: He is also known as Sir Rich….

2 comments:

Wei Kin said...

Hi Yuming,

I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog posts. I believe that Sir Rich your referring to is Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group.

The way he handled the situation is indeed impressive and worthy of emulation. Heck, I will emulate his every single action, down to his eating habits, if it means amassing a mere 1% of his fortune (estimated at $2.8 billion).

However, there are many situations that do not end as ideally. It really does depend on the persons involved. Some people might not be as forgiving as Sir Monkey for stealing their nuts.

Brad Blackstone said...

Yes, as you show, stealing others' nuts is rarely so easily tolerated (and hardly ever profitable).

But what is the dilemma here? Asking for alternatives to one specific means of dealing with an embarrassment is not the same as asking for a novel solution to problem (and one without a model to replicate).

Do you see what I mean? (Or is it really late and is my mind playing tricks on me?)