| Flea training similar to human mis-training Are you like a flea? Did you know people really do train fleas to perform in flea circuses? It’s true -- and easy. You simply place the fleas in a box with a lid. Thinking it would be neat having a flea circus in his lobby, insurance agent Fred Smith decided to give a try at being the ringmaster. He bought some fleas and an aquarium, but the fleas were jumping higher than the top. He fixed the problem by putting an aluminum lid on it. |
| entertaining apparatus to another until one day Fred was called to the lobby. It seems a young child had knocked the lid off the aquarium. Fred was shocked at the sight when he arrived in the lobby. What did he see? Fred was surprised because every single flea was still in the aquarium. It seems the fleas had tired of hitting their heads on the lid. After a short period of time they had stopped jumping as high. This is normal for fleas. Once they figure out how high they can safely jump, they no longer try to jump as high. Removing the lid does not change their knowledge - they still jump only as high as they did before the lid was removed. As silly as this may sound -- people often do the same thing. They try for a promotion and they do not get it. They try again only to fail again. After repeating this several times they stop trying. Change policies, change requirements, change management -- it doesn’t matter, they no longer try. Are you running a flea circus or are you operating an organization where employees are still connected with high ambitions? |
| About Max Impact Max Impact is a strategy and leadership development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Products and services connect teams to a shared vision of success in a troubled or rebounding economy. For information about Max Impact, visit www.getmaximpact.com, call 248-802-6138, or write info@getmaximpact.com. |
| ©2009 Max Impact Corporation Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA www.getmaximact.com. |


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