100 Men vs 1 Gorilla
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What is the biggest internet debate right now?
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Ryan League podcast, where we serve up short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Now, let's be honest. The biggest debate of the last few weeks has not been about tariffs. Nope, nope, nope. It hasn't been about interest rates. It hasn't even been about GOAT conversations between LeBron James and Michael Jordan talking about the NBA playoffs and Luka not playing defense. Nope, that is not the greatest debate over the past couple of weeks. No, where the internet has been locked in on is the debate over could 100 men, take down one silverback gorilla with no weapons.
Can 100 men defeat a gorilla without weapons?
Now, I don't know what you believe about this debate, but before you jump into your theory as to why you think the gorilla would win or the 100 men would win, I just want you to think about this scenario for a minute. Let's just say... that the 100 men aren't just 100 random guys from the mall. They're not just walking around Walmart. Let's just say we get to choose the 100 men. We get to stack the deck. I'm talking 15 sumo wrestlers, okay? I'm talking 20 of the top NFL defensive linemen, okay? Aaron Donald and his boys, all right? They just ready to rock and roll. I'm talking about your top 10 elite UFC fighters ready to choke hold and do leg kicks. I'm not really sure that that's going to work on the silverback gorilla, but let's just say we get to stack the deck.
And the other 55 dudes are just your random weekend warriors who... still bring up their high school stats at cookouts, okay? Just some run-of-the-mill dudes that are just ready for the Royal Rumble. Now, you got to ask yourself, can these 100 men take a gorilla, a silverback gorilla, okay?
Why is the gorilla considered unbeatable?
Now, in my humble opinion, I think where the plan falls apart is the fact that the gorilla doesn't need a plan. It does not need formation. It does not need a team. It does not need a strategy. It is a strategy. It is a team in and of itself. It doesn't even need a reason. It just wakes up strong. A silverback gorilla... is like a CrossFit champion, Olympic powerlifter, and Marvel superhero all merged into one hairy, plant-based wrecking ball, okay? Like, the average gorilla can lift up to 10 times its body weight, which means a 400-pound gorilla could casually... casually bench press a pickup truck while peeling a banana with its foot. I want you to think about that for a second, okay? Now, let's just take the strongest human you can imagine. Let's just say the strongest human you can imagine could deadlift 1,000 pounds once. What they would do while doing so, they would be screaming, right? And then afterwards, they would need a chiropractor. The gorilla, on the other hand, doesn't train. It doesn't even hydrate.
In my humble opinion, the 100 men, even if they're all sumo wrestlers and all NFL defensive linemen, in my humble opinion, They become pancakes. But here's the twist of this episode. This episode isn't actually about gorillas. It's about connection. Because somehow, this ridiculous debate has sparked more engagement than most meetings ever will. Why? Because it's fun. Because it's unexpected.
How can fun debates improve team connection?
And it gets people talking. And that's the whole point. In my new book, How to Work with Complicated People, which, by the way, is a New York Times bestselling book. Thank you for your support on that. Now, in this book, I write about how we can actually improve our relationships by improving our connections. And one of the best ways to build connection is by asking better questions, unexpected questions, slightly ridiculous questions, fun questions. And so today I want to give you just some questions that I think can make your meetings better, make your conversations better. And you can just try this in your next meeting.
What questions can spark better team conversations?
For example, you could say, hey, if our team was trapped on a deserted island, who's leading us? And who's getting eaten first? OK, like now you're just you're trying to figure out who's the weak link. And I can just tell you if I'm in this meeting, I'm going to tell you right now, my outdoors survival skills are rather low. However, my airport vernacular, my ability to book travel is elite.
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