This book provides some powerful messages using a “monkey” tale, for practicing managers, leaders, coaching practitioners and indeed anyone challenged with the 24/7 demands of this twenty first century world – focus on attending to the important “monkeys” to maintain their health while allowing the unimportant ones starve from lack of attention.
The analogy of a “monkey-on-the-back”, for me, relates to the tasks/activities that a manager takes on from subordinates and how this eats into managers time. Isn’t this analogy equally relevant to everyday life – “monkeys-on-the-back” are potential entries on “to-do” lists. The notion of managing “self-imposed time” is where power lies allowing us “Get control over the timing and content of what we do”. Three kinds of organisational time are discussed – boss-imposed time, system-imposed time, self-imposed time – and recognising each of these and how we deal with them is a potential shift of mindset. When we begin to see things differently, we think differently, feel differently and ultimately behave differently – this book offers a way “to see things differently” forcing me to think about what next, controlling my time and myself – not uncommon challenges in today’s busy world !!!!