🐒 "Not my circus, not my monkeys"
What tasks can you give back this month?
Hi Friends,
The primary diagnostic for Free Time is understanding where you are in friction and how you can move toward flow, an immersive state where work feels engaging and joyful. McKinsey research shows we are five times more productive when operating in flow states.
When you’re in survival mode, creating space for flow requires you to also build the muscle of saying no to more than you otherwise would. You must give responsibilities back that aren’t yours, ones weighing you down to the point where your mind writes checks your body can’t cash. Many of you have already experienced these somatic signals, warning you that the way you are working is no longer working.
I love the Polish saying, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” It’s a perfect tie-in to one of my favorite tiny old-school business books, The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, based on one of the most popular HBR articles of all time, both building on the following bit of Hollywood lore that I shared in Free Time (still just $0.99 on Kindle through Labor Day!).
One day film executive Peter Guber, running a Hollywood studio at twenty-nine years old, vented to Jack Warner, president of Warner Bros. Studios, that he was overwhelmed and left with a million problems at the end of every day. Warner replied:
“Don’t be confused. You’re only renting that office. You don’t own it. You’re the zookeeper in a zoo. Every person arrives with a monkey. Think of that monkey as their problem. They’re trying to leave it with you. Sometimes you have to discover where the monkey is. It’s hidden or dressed up. But remember you’re the zookeeper. You’ve got to keep the place clean. So when you walk them to the door, be sure they’ve got their monkey by the hand. Don’t let them leave without it. And if they come back, make sure it’s trained, i.e. they have solutions to their problems. Otherwise at the end of the day, you’ll have a screaming, jumping troop of monkeys, and monkeys shit all over the place.”
💬 Questions to Consider
How many monkeys are sitting on your desk right now? Who do they actually belong to? What monkeys can you give back this month? It’s time to give them a new owner, one that isn’t you.
🎧 Related Episodes
🧭 Watch the Full Replay
Check out my recent Free Time workshop for Georgetown’s Pivot with Purpose series; you can sign up for additional summer seminar series here.
🎉 I hope you can enjoy some extra free time this summer — time to give even more monkeys back!
