Who's Got The Monkey By William Oncken

Managers and subordinates both have a very distinct relationship. As described in the article Who’s Got the Monkey by William Oncken, Jr., & Donald L. Wass, “the monkey” is the ultimate exchange between the manager and his or her team members. The monkey is most certainly the time, work effort, ethic, pressure, and most importantly, the responsibility that a manager and an employee exchanges throughout their time spent together. I personally view the “monkey” metaphorically as the big kahuna! Shifting the monkey between the two relevant parties is a task like no other because, the monkey is, essentially, the relationship between an employee and their boss; it is a valuable form of communication. I can’t say that I personally see the “monkey” as a
burden, I see it as a challenge or task that needs to be nurtured.
Those who work right under the managers nose, most likely knows a lot about what their boss does and how timely they are at doing those tasks. The author of the article mentions three particular time blocks that employees occupy and managers occupy. The employee represents subordinate-imposed time and managers represent boss-imposed time. I can describe a time during my career where I imposed my subordinate time onto my manager. I was a team member at Tim Horton café and bake shop and I needed to run the drive-thru line much faster than its current pace. I had to run to the back where my manager was and interrupt their prior responsibilities to come out and help my coworker and I move the line though. As soon as my boss stood up, preparing to help solve what I had brought to his attention, I know now that, I had definitely imposed and removed the monkey from my back and onto his.
It is almost impossible for a manager to have self-imposed time and merely neglect subordinate time. I can only imagine it being sort of challenging to maintain a substantial amount of responsibilities without the chance to reflect as often as I’d like. Oncken, Jr. and Wass states the fifth rule of five rules, about the care and feeding of the monkey. “Every monkey should have an assigned next feeding time and degree of initiative. These may be revised at any time by mutual consent but never allowed to become vague or indefinite. Otherwise, the monkey will either starve to death or wind up on the manager’s back.” (Oncken, Jr. & Wass, 1999). If I filled the shoes of a manager and my subordinates needed to pass me the monkey when I know I have a number of other things that demands my attention as well, I would simply feed the monkey exactly what it needs until I could take it into full possession. I’d place it back onto my subordinate’s backs without them feeling or noticing a thing.
Nevertheless, the article does not reveal to the audience a 6th rule on how to care for the monkey.
If I were a manager, I’d find it honorably applicable to insert an additional rule because sometimes, as the boss, you have to come up with your own rules. I am not blatantly encouraging reckless or continuous behavior but, I do believe that sometimes (very limited times), bending the rules for the sufficiency of the business is completely reasonable under certain circumstances. You have to release your OWN way of thinking and handling situations. That would be my 6th rule. If a manager is not willing to step up and make some unorthodox decisions at some point in their career, then they might as well relinquish their managerial position and fill the shoes of a subordinate. Metaphorically, the monkey will only starve if you let it. Feed and care for the monkey, even if it isn’t on your back. As a manager, you have to be responsible for virtually everything. Starving the monkey only shows your lack of ability to maintain as the boss. I believe if there’s a will then there’s a way. If you are willing to go above and beyond for the sake of your business, then there is no way you won’t come out on top almost every
time.

References
Oncken, W., & Wass, D. (1974). Management time: Who's got the monkey? Boston: Harvard Business Review