LEADERSHIP
Who’s Got the Monkey?
How an old management concept is just as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.
A classic article with new implications — Who’s Got the Monkey?
I recently re-read one of Harvard Business Review’s most bought articles, Management Time: Who’s Got The Monkey? It appears in several of my HBR books — a great way to recycle content. I always enjoy reading it though, because even though it was written in 1974 and updated in 1999, it’s still as relevant today. The language is dated, and the problems have moved on, but the critical point is valid today — who’s got the monkey?
In this case, the ‘monkey’ is the next move or action that somebody needs to care for and feed or let go into the wild and out of our lives. As a leader, these issues come to you every day and risk taking over your working day if you’re not careful.
As inexperienced PMs often tell me, “I have no time to do my job because I have too many meetings”. When we talk about what’s in those meetings, they are essentially monkey-feeding. Once they understand this, they suddenly see meetings as being the work, not getting in the way of it.
When the article was originally written, these monkeys came to you through distinct channels — chance encounters, formal meetings…
