by main monkey
on Oct 12th, 2004

Fleas, Lids, and Rootbeer

An analogy has been posed:

Fleas, it seems, can jump really, really far. Some scientists decided to try and train fleas -for fun, I suppose. The scientists placed these fleas in a jar with no lid. As expected, the fleas all jumped out. They then placed them in the jar with a lid secured tightly. The fleas jumped, hit the lid, and fell time and time again. Soon, they learned to jump just under the height of the lid, avoiding the pain, yet still jumping. (This is where I differ from the fleas; why jump at all?) After they were conditioned to this height, the scientists removed the lid. Now fully trained, no fleas managed to jump over the rim of the jar and escape.

The unspoken yet intended message of this analogy (or is it a metaphor?) is that we are the fleas that simply aren’t reaching our potential. Jump a little higher. Do a little more for the team. See and exceed the limits. Blah blah blah.

Hopefully one step smarter than your average simian, allow me to take a differing angle on this. Fleas are what they are; they jump high and far by nature. In fact, the only reason the fleas in this little anecdote began to fall short of their potential in the first place is because some meddling scientists put a cap on the damn jar. They fell victim to their masters. It was out of there control.

Just as the scientists can’t reasonably be surprised that the fleas failed to escape after the barrier was removed, leaders shouldn’t be surprised when the work environment they create causes a lack of motivation, unity, and effectiveness. Are followers better than fleas? Some are, yes. Higher thinking, free will, and personal choice all come into play in situations like this. But leaders have a responsibility to put their followers in situations where there are no lids to begins with, to remove barriers if they do exist, and to recognize when to simply turn the jar over and dump it out.

And I had rootbeer today. Swell.

4 Responses to “Fleas, Lids, and Rootbeer”

  1. # Anonymouson 18 Oct 2004 at 5:10 pm

    Dude, i think your staff meetings are getting crappier and crappier.

    your favorite blog reader.

    (i anonymously posted for a reason… duh.)

  2. # Anonymouson 18 Oct 2004 at 5:11 pm

    actually, come to think of it, that sounds like a missionary training someone would recieve, does it not?

    Where is the zone conference?

    Where are the people to spread the word to?

    Oh wait… you work at a job…. where the leadership is skewing your potential.

  3. # bossdjon 19 Oct 2004 at 5:42 pm

    Werd on that, holmes. I’ve heard the analogy many times before and had many similar ideas. Actually, the experiment reminds me of high school (and sometimes college.) The scientists, of course, being the teachers setting limits by shooting down any thinking outside the box or, in other words, “jumping outside the jar” which in turn creates a society of kids with dummied down dreams and low expectations of themselves. This can also be a precursor to the workplace. But on a lighter note, there’s always root beer.

  4. # Eunayon 19 Oct 2004 at 5:51 pm

    i like the analogy and your take on it…w00t!

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