Dunno, but I've heard the story a million times at management training. Goes like this

5 monkeys in a cage. They put a ladder with some bananas at the top.

Alpha male goes up the ladder and just as he gets to the top, a water jet is aimed at him and knocks him off the top.

Second male tries, and same thing happens.

After a few repetitions of this, none of them try to go up the ladder any more.

After a while, one of the monkeys is replaced with a new one. He goes straight for the ladder, but the other four monkeys go running to him and stop him from climbing it. One by one the monkeys are replaced until no monkey remains who has ever been sprayed by the water jet.

However, each time any monkey tries to climb the ladder, the other 4 still try to stop him.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Nov 23, 14:55:42