As learned in Build High Performance, Low Maintenance teams™ 
a key component of the Capability Improvement Process®

                                                                                                                                                                               March 29, 2006
Learn From Chimpanzees?   

That's right! Earlier this month, the Max Plank Society published a study completed at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda. The results are relevant for us humans too, as our close cousins show us how to achieve better results by building a better team.

Results Summary:
by Alicia Melis from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany:

To reach a food tray, the chimpanzees had to pull two ends of a rope which dragged the tray towards them. Both rope ends had to be pulled at the same time or the rope was simply pulled out. The chimpanzees only let a partner into the room (by opening their door) when the rope ends were too far apart to pull them on their own. ‘Not only did they need to know when they needed help, they had to go out and get it.’  Then they had to wait until their partner came in and could pull on the rope at the same time. The chimps really had to understand why they needed their partner.

Just like people, there were better cooperators than others.  ‘This is the first study that lets chimps choose who they want to cooperate with. We found that chimps choose a partner based on their effectiveness. Clearly, chimps can remember who’s a good and who’s a bad collaborator. Bad collaborators suffer by not being chosen next time.’

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute again to your continued success!

Paul M. Litwack, CHRP  - The Capability Improvement Coach®
www.THE-COACH.com   1+905-764-8525

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