Would your organization pass The Monkey Test?

My favorite emojis are the little monkeys. And this weekend it occurred to me how perfectly they illustrate what happens when large organizations undergo a transformation.

Whether it’s a digital, strategic or organizational transformation, employees go through four stages:

🙊  Inactive

They don’t talk about the transformation

🙈  Reactive

They blindly repeat other people’s words about the transformation

🐵  Interactive

They use input from other people to discuss the transformation in their own words

🐒  Proactive

They use their own words and experience to deal with the transformation

The Monkey Test maps the distribution of employees across the four different stages, and responsive leaders use this mapping to adjust their initiatives.

For example by saying:

"65% of our employees are inactive or reactive, so we will slow down our overall transformation activities and instead focus on: 1) empowering frontrunners to pave the way, and 2) getting everyone on board."

Of course, not all leaders are responsive.

Some prefer to 🙉🙉🙉🙉

P.s. Ironically, you cannot take The Monkey Test with SurveyMonkey or other survey tools. To map and support the progress of your transformation, you need Qvest.