Page 17 - Mini-Module 1

Oncken and Wass (1999) offer the following advice for recapturing the
excitement of leadership, it is a basic law for managing monkeys. It
goes like this:

“At no time while I am helping you will your problem become
my problem. The instant your problem becomes mine, you will
no longer have a problem. I cannot help someone who hasn't
got a problem. You may ask my help at any appointed time, and
we will make a joint determination of what the next move will
be and who will make it.”
(http://hbsp.bsn.endeca.com/hbsp/controller.jsp?Ntk=main_se
arch&Ntt=mangement+time%3A+who%27s+got+the+monkey&
N=105)
Refusing to accept problems that your staff try to delegate upward,
and instead giving them opportunities to meet with you to "feed the
monkey" is the best choice for both the monkey and for its keeper. The
staff member who is closest to the problem usually has the knowledge
and skills to solve the problem, if empowered to do so. Consultations
with the leader will serve to broaden individual perspectives and offer
new ways of seeing a problem. As the person feeds and eventually
solves the problem, he or she learns important skills that make them
more valuable to the organization and to the leader.
In addition to the above law of monkey management, the authors list
six rules of managing monkeys that are instructive to leaders. These
include:

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