After six months of leadership training led by Joren Tengesdal, M.A., Senior Management Consultant and Coaching Practice Lead at PRADCO, members of the Summit Academy 2025-2026
Leadership Institute presented their final projects in a team format.
The institute’s overarching theme of management encompassed managing self, results, people and change. Team 1 members Angela Donovan Atkins, Sean Gaffney, Valerie Nelson and Brooke Santabene presented “Building Bench Strength: Capability Matrix in Practice” with the goal of creating a stronger leadership pipeline. In Team 2, members Cheryl Elliott, Gina Nash, Erwin McIntosh and Jared Wesley presented “It’s Your Company Now Reflection Series Companion.” Their goal centered on extending leadership principles across the 
organization. Team 3 members Sarah Kwasnicka, Amanda McGinnis, Alexandra Morris and Cathy Schilling presented “Summit Seven Calibration Toolkit,” which focused on strengthening fairness and consistency in staff evaluations.
Referencing Six Sigma and the cohort’s thesis on change, CEO John Guyer explained organizations experience sharp change when roughly one-third of their managers are onboard with that change.
“One thing you will see as long as you are here, I guarantee you will see change,” Guyer said. “The best way to get through it is to manage
that change and curate that change when you get a chance to.”
During their presentations, the teams discussed the descriptions of their goals, deliverables and return on investment. They each received certificates for their 
completion of the program. The event concluded with a celebratory cake for all.
“Lead in a way that makes Summit Academy the standard others look to follow,” Guyer advised the cohort.
Guyer puts the adoption of change in to context with “The 100th Monkey Story.”
Context: The 100th Monkey Story (Popular Version)
In the 1950s, scientists observed monkeys on the Japanese island of Koshima.
- The monkeys were given sweet potatoes dropped on the beach.
- One young monkey discovered she could wash the sand off the potatoes in water before eating them.
- She taught her friends and family this new behavior.
- Gradually, more monkeys on the island adopted the practice.
Then comes the key moment:
When a critical number of monkeys—often called the “100th monkey”—learned the behavior, something remarkable happened…
- Suddenly, monkeys on other islands (not physically connected) began washing their potatoes too.
- The idea appeared to spread instantly and mysteriously, as if through a shared consciousness.
How It’s Used in Change & Six Sigma
In leadership and Six Sigma contexts, the story is used to illustrate:
- Critical Mass / Tipping Point
- Change feels slow… until it suddenly isn’t.
- Behavioral Adoption
- Once enough people adopt a new way, it becomes “the way we do things.”
- Cultural Shift
- Systems don’t change until people change—and then they change quickly.
It’s often tied to:
- Early adopters → majority → normalization
- Resistance early, momentum later
- The importance of persistence before the breakthrough
The Reality (Important)
Here’s where it gets interesting:
- The actual scientific observations were real (monkeys learning behaviors socially).
- BUT the idea that behaviors jumped instantly to other islands is not supported by evidence.
- The “100th monkey effect” was popularized and exaggerated by later writers, especially:
- Lyall Watson