In November 1995 Fast Company magazine investigated an example of “everyone knows that…” science:
Manfred Kets de Vries published the fable in his recent book, “Life and Death in the Executive Fast Lane”:
“Take a pot of hot water and a frog. Throw the frog into the pot. What do you think will happen? The obvious, of course: the frog will jump out. Who likes hanging around in a pot of hot water? Now … [t]ake a pot of cold water, put the frog in it, and place the pot on the stove. Turn on the heat. This time something different will occur. The frog, because of the incremental change in temperature, will not notice that it is slowly being boiled. Unfortunately, many organizations, as they grow, begin to resemble the boiled frog.”
Fast Company’s investigative team, the “Consultant Debunking Unit”, put the frog story to the test….
(Thanks to investigator Mark Dionne and several others for bringing this to our attention.)