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God placed six starving and freezing monkeys on a mountain to guard a peach orchard, providing them with three meals a day. Their job was to watch the peaches, pick them, and deliver them to God promptly. Before they took office, God held a meeting with them.
God said, “From now on, you are a team. You must work together and support each other in your duties. You must not miss a single peach, nor lose a single peach.” God assigned their roles: the eldest and second monkeys were leaders, the third and fourth were stewards, and the fifth and sixth were laborers who did all the work.
Thus, the six monkeys were divided into three classes. The leaders only gave orders and did no work, looking very imposing. The stewards just watched the gate and collected peaches, also quite carefree. The laborers were destined for hardship, doing all the work. However, every monkey wanted to be carefree and imposing, and none wanted to suffer. They all aspired to be leaders.
The eldest monkey, to secure his position as top leader, kept a close eye on the second monkey, fearing he might usurp power or surpass him. If anyone interacted closely with the second monkey, the eldest assumed they were his confidants and would find ways to punish them, making things difficult for them. The second monkey, unwilling to remain subordinate, also wanted to become the top leader. He watched the eldest closely, seeking leverage to bring him down. If he saw any monkey interacting with the eldest, he assumed they were reporting on him and would also find ways to punish them.
The eldest monkey courted the others to consolidate his power, while the second monkey also courted them to overthrow the eldest and become the top leader. The other monkeys were in a difficult position: if they got too close to the eldest, they feared that if the second monkey became the leader, their days would be numbered. But if they were too close to the second, they risked offending the eldest and facing his retaliation.
Regarding their stance toward the eldest and second monkeys, the third and fourth monkeys had a major disagreement. The third believed the eldest would not be dethroned soon, so he tried hard to please the eldest and aimed to oust the second to become the second-in-command. The second monkey saw through the third’s intentions and eventually caught the third stealing a peach. He publicly reported it and demanded the eldest enforce the mountain rules. The eldest had no choice but to demote the third to second steward, and the fourth naturally became the head steward.
Through this incident, the fourth monkey concluded that the second monkey was capable and likely to become the top leader, so he became close to him. The eldest, seeing this as a threat, encouraged the third to seek revenge and reclaim the head steward position.
Soon, the third discovered that the fourth had stolen peaches and given them to the second. The eldest was pleased and, according to the rules, demoted the second to steward and the fourth to laborer, while the third was promoted to second-in-command. As a result, the fifth was promoted from laborer to steward, but he also aspired to be a leader. Later, he discovered that both the eldest and the third, the two leaders, were stealing peaches from the orchard. He took the opportunity while delivering peaches to God to report this.
God was furious and decided to make the loyal fifth monkey the top leader, demoting the other five to laborers! After announcing this decision, God asked the eldest and second monkeys, “Why have you ended up like this?” The eldest said, “I didn’t keep the ones below in check.” The second said, “I didn’t oust the one above, nor did I keep the ones below in check.” God sighed and asked the others, “What do you think is the way to get promoted?” The third said, “You must discredit your superiors; they are stumbling blocks on your path. Only when they are discredited and fall can you have room to develop.” The fourth said, “You must keep your subordinates in check, not let them show their talents and abilities. If you don’t, they will eventually push you out.” God looked at the sixth monkey, who scratched his head and said, “You’re all wrong! The most important thing for a leader is to maintain the status quo. The longer you stay in a leadership position, the more opportunities you have to move up. So you must find ways to secure your position to have hope for promotion.” God smiled and asked the fifth, “What do you think?” The fifth, unexpectedly promoted to top leader, was overjoyed and said from his experience, “To get promoted, you must be tight internally and loose externally. Externally, you must not let others see your ambition, so your superiors won’t keep you down, but you must always work hard. If your superiors ignore you and your subordinates see no need to oust you, you will surely stand out through effort.”
God looked at the six monkeys and sighed, “You spend all day scheming instead of working. How can the work be done well? Fine, you’re all fired!”
Boss, if it were you, how would you manage these six monkeys?
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