ARE YOU FEELING TRAPPED WITHIN THE BOX OF UNCOMFORTABLE CONFORMITY?

Consider the story about the managing monk who transfers into a new monastery and finds that the monks are hand scripting their books from the latest copy and not the original version. He points out that if an error were made in transcription, the subsequent copies would be similarly flawed for eternity. When he tries to change the process he meets organizational resistance because the procedure in that monastery had been in place for generatons.

To prove his point, he announces that he is going to conduct a quality assurance review of the latest copy by comparing it to the original stores in the cellar. The monks are outraged, but when he does not return in a few hours, one of the more compassionate monks becomes concerned and goes looking for the new manager.

He finds him weeping uncontrollably in the corner of the cellar. "What's wrong?" he asks. The managing monk can hardly speak, but after a few moments he looks up and sighs, "The word is celebrate."

~ from the book, 'Daring To Be Different: A Manager's Ascent to Leadership', by James Hatherley;