3. Do you have a "Monkeys and Bananas" Problem?

When I started as the Head of Client Services at Jellyfish, the President and Founder, Rob Pierre, flew in from London for a new-hire induction. About five minutes in, he started a story I hadn’t heard in ages, but one I’d lived through many many times in my head.

"Five monkeys are in a room," he began, "with a ladder leading to bananas..."

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud. Rob shot me a look of pure, British disapproval and kept right on going with the tale.

The Allegory: How to Kill a Good Idea

For anyone who hasn't heard it, the story is a classic "management fable." Whether it actually happened in a lab or is just persistent corporate folklore doesn't really matter, the truth of it hits home regardless.

The setup: Five monkeys are placed in a cage with a ladder leading to a bunch of bananas. Every time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, the entire group is sprayed with freezing cold water. (In the version I first heard, the bananas were also electrified). Eventually, the monkeys learn the hard way: Don't touch the ladder.

Then, the researchers turn off the water. They replace one of the original monkeys with a new one. The new guy sees the bananas, goes for the ladder, and, before he can even reach the first rung, the other four monkeys pull him down and beat him up. He has no idea why, but he learns: don't climb.

One by one, every original monkey is replaced. Eventually, you have five monkeys in a room who have never been sprayed or shocked, yet they will all collectively tackle any monkey who tries to reach for those bananas.

If you could ask them why they do it, they’d just say: "That’s just the way we do things around here."

From Navy Boot Camp to the Agency Boardroom

After the meeting, Rob pulled me aside and asked why I found his story so funny. I told him it wasn't about being disrespectful; it was just a massive trip down memory lane.

I first heard that exact story in Navy Boot Camp back in 1989. It was delivered with significantly more volume and a few more curse words by my Drill Instructor, Sr. Chief Bonds.

Sr. Chief Bonds was a fountain of colorful military wisdom. He’s the same man who taught me that "for every ten 'attaboys,' one 'screw-up' will do you in." (He didn't say screw-up, but you get the point—and we’ll definitely talk more about that rule another day).

Standing there in the Jellyfish office, it reminded me that the military and high-growth agencies actually have a lot in common. Both live and die by "Standard Operating Procedures." In the Navy, those SOPs are literally designed to keep you alive. In an agency, they're meant to keep your margins healthy.

But here’s the thing: when the "water", that original threat, is long gone, those SOPs can turn into a prison.

The Invisible Friction

I

n the agency world, the "Cold Water" is usually a ghost of a problem. It’s a client who fired the agency in 2018, a botched launch from years ago, or a founder's old preference that hasn't been updated since the team was only five people.

At Black Propeller, I worked with the Head of Media, who also happened to be a Jellyfish alum. We developed a shorthand for whenever we hit a wall in a meeting or found a process that felt like a total drag.

We’d look at each other and ask: "Is this a Monkeys and Bananas problem?"

It was our way of cutting through the noise and asking:

• Is there a real, logical reason we can't do this?

• Or are we just enforcing a rule because we're afraid of a shock that isn't coming?

Stop Beating the New Monkeys

The real tragedy of the "Monkey Problem" is how it treats high-value talent. When you hire brilliant new people, those A-players who haven't been "conditioned" yet, they are the "New Monkeys." They see the bananas. They see the opportunity for growth or a better workflow.

And what do we do? We pull them off the ladder. We tell them "that’s not how we do it." We beat the innovation out of them until they conform to a rule that hasn't made sense in a decade. Or worse, those high-value players get so beat down that they stop trying and eventually leave the business.

The Challenge

As a leader, my job is often to be the guy who walks into the room and starts climbing the ladder just to see what happens. I’m there to check if the water is actually still running.

Nine times out of ten? There’s no water, and the bananas are just sitting there waiting to be taken.

So, take a look at your agency’s "unbreakable" rules. If the only reason you have for a process is "that's just how we do it," it’s time to stop the cycle. Turn off the imaginary water, ignore the old fears, and go get the bananas.

For every post, I give Gemini & Nano Banana a single prompt: 'Make an image based on this post.' I publish the result exactly as it is—no edits, no refinements—as a living case study of both the power and the pitfalls of AI.