Like most things in life and business; big problems often start small!

The proverbial "800 pound Gorrilla"… the problem or competitor that is ever present; that dominates your thoughts and actions and never seems to go away probably started out as a small monkey. 

The biggest barrier to success is usually within an organization (or within an individual) rather than a quality or strategic advantage your competitor may possess.  The true barrier is usually what you lack; or a flaw that you unwittingly nurture.

The 800-pound Gorilla comes from a form of "monkey in the middle" that we all play in our personal and professional relationships.  We often do this without even realizing it; if we are not careful we soon will have a full blown crisis or pscyhological block on making any progress.  Do you find yourself dumping your monkeys on your boss or co-workers?  Are you comforted in your belief that passing a problem onward and upward the chain of command is your primary role?  You are wrong!

Oftentimes in my career co-workers would come into my office and drop their issues and problems on me and leave. It was disappointing that they would only present problems absent of solutions; or make excuses with very little commitment to personal ownership.

Then one day, I found myself on the phone just pushing some of the same issues forward and realized that I was putting the "monkey in the middle" and all of us were feeding it with our collective negativity and passivity allowing it to flourish into a full grown Gorilla. The better strategy is to put the monkey back where it came from and make the owner tame it rather than unleash it on someone else.

Are you guilty of nurturing your own 800-pound Gorillas?