100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla: The Debate That Builds Better TeamsCould 100 men take down 1 gorilla—with no weapons? It’s the internet’s favorite argument right now, and in this episode, Ryan breaks it down with NFL linemen, sumo wrestlers, UFC fighters, and a whole lot of imagination. But this episode isn’t really about gorillas. It’s about connection.In How to Work With Complicated People, Ryan talks about improving relationships by asking better questions—and sometimes, the questions that build the most connection are the ones that spark laughter.Use this episode to stir up your next team meeting, dinner table, or awkward offsite conversation. Because funny debates make people talk—and talking builds trust.Here are a few questions to ask your team this week:If our team was trapped on a deserted island, who’s leading us… and who’s getting eaten first?Who’s most likely to accidentally “reply all” and cause total chaos?If you had to swap jobs with someone on this team for a week, who would it be and why?What’s a small tweak that would make our meetings 10x better?If we had an unlimited budget for a team retreat, where are we going and how long are we staying?What’s the most annoying thing the people we serve deal with—and how could we fix it?What’s a hill you're willing to die on that has nothing to do with work?If our workplace were a genre of movie, what would it be?Who’s the teammate you’d want in a zombie apocalypse—and who’s definitely getting bitten first?
Chapter 1: 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.
Chapter 2: 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?
Chapter 3: 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.
Chapter 4: 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.
Chapter 5: 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.
So if you put me indoors or at a resort or any airport, I can get you out. If you put us in the jungle, we're going to die. I'm just telling you right now. Don't invite me. I don't want to go to your retreat. There's no point. Because if something happened, I can run fast. That's about it. Another great question. Who's most likely to accidentally hit reply all and shut down the company?
Like who's like, we need to just take their computer because we don't know what they're going to say. Another question that you could use in a meeting is if you had to swap jobs with someone on this team for a week, who would it be and why? Another question could be, what's a small tweak that would make our meetings 10 times better?
I mean, you could even just sit on that one for five, ten minutes. Like, how can we make these meetings even better? Because most meetings could be better, way better, with just one or two small shifts. You know, I mean, I've just heard a few answers around that.
People have said, hey, something that can make our meetings better is if, you know, if they started on time, that'd be helpful, or ended early on purpose. What if we banned PowerPoint for one week and just had to talk like humans? What if the last five minutes of every meeting was used to ask, hey, what did we not say today that perhaps we should have? Sometimes I think we over-engineer connection.
We try to automate what's meant to be human. But when you give people space to speak freely without judgment or agenda, you'd be amazed at what shows up. And then there's another question that I really think will get your team going. I really think will spark energy in a meeting. What's the most annoying thing the people we serve deal with and how can we fix it? I'll say it again.
What's the most annoying thing that the people we serve deal with and how could we fix it? If you're in the customer service space, I don't know that you could easily fix this, but I probably should start a company that does fix this. Let me just tell you what drives people crazy. And if it was removed, oh my gosh, it would change the game for these companies. Automated customer service hotlines.
Oh my goodness. You call in with a legit question, and before you can say anything, you're in a voicemail purgatory. Please press seven if you'd like to repeat these options again for the sixth time. Have you ever been yelling at your phone? Representative! Team member! Like, I don't know how they get us so frustrated, but it's like, would somebody please... Fix this.
Listen, my friend, what you want to do in these meetings is you want to ask questions that spark some synergy, that create some connection. Perhaps it creates a fun debate. Perhaps there's some laughter. At the end of the day, one of the best things that we can do for our teams is build our connections, even with the people that sometimes we find complicated. So, yeah, at the end of the day,
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