Arketi Insider
January 2026
Your CEO walks into the meeting frustrated. Sales are steady. Marketing is humming. Product is shipping. Revenue is up. But something’s missing.
Where’s that sense of momentum and innovation that once defined your business?
In its place, there’s hesitation. Resistance. Employees, especially long-time leaders and managers, are clinging to what’s always worked. Not because they’re lazy or disloyal. But because change is uncomfortable, even when it leads to progress and growth.
Sound familiar? It’s an all-too-common situation but it highlights a critical insight: You can’t accelerate growth in the marketplace if you are unable to accelerate change in the workplace.
And one of the biggest obstacles is fear of bananas.
Let me explain.
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Picture five gorillas in a cage. In the center is a banana, hanging at the top, just out of their reach. Below that banana is a ladder.
One of the gorillas works up the courage to climb the ladder toward the banana. Without warning, all five gorillas are sprayed with ice-cold water. They immediately retreat to the corners of the cage, at which point the water stops spraying.
After a short time, another gorilla begins to climb the ladder but is stopped by the other four who do not want to be doused with water.
One of the gorillas is removed from the cage and replaced with a new one.
As soon as the newbie sees the banana, he goes for it. Enroute, he is attacked by the other gorillas. He has no idea why but now fully understands that he will be assaulted if he tries to climb the ladder.
A second gorilla is removed from the cage and replaced with a new one.
Of course, this new gorilla starts climbing the ladder and is attacked. The first newcomer also joins in on the assault, even though he does not understand the reason for it.
A third gorilla is replaced and the same events unfold, this time with the first two replacements participating in the same assault and, again, with no idea why.
After the last two original gorillas are replaced and subsequently attacked for going after that banana, none of the gorillas who were actually sprayed with water remain.
This new group of five gorillas, who have no knowledge of why they should not approach that ladder, will never try. Why?
“Because that’s the way it’s always been around here.”
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An old tale from who knows where, but one with a heckuva lesson. This mindset is a huge barrier to enacting meaningful changes that enable innovation and growth.
You may have new tools, systems, and goals in place, but your culture doesn’t shift automatically “just because.” Your employees follow patterns – even outdated ones, even ones that pre-date almost everyone who is now there – for a variety of reasons, whether it’s habit, fear, social pressure, or whatever else, including having been metaphorically sprayed with water by their leaders the last time they tried to do something new or different.
You have to be deliberate about shifting mindsets. Otherwise, the organization will stay stuck and stagnant.
I like to use the term innervation to describe the change process: define the vision, align teams, give every employee a personal reason to support it, and reward behaviors (not just the outcomes), so you can build a culture that embraces change and fears no banana.
Of course, all this requires a lot more than just blasting emails or creating an employee hashtag. Among a host of critical actions, the main keys are:
If it feels like your company is continually pulling folks off the innovation ladder or stubbornly sticking to old habits no one can quite explain, it’s time to reset your internal mindset.
Break the pattern. Unleash innovation. Overcome fear. And give your team permission to climb.
Written by Jason Anthoine, SVP, Managing Director of Arketi Inside
Jason Anthoine is Senior Vice President of Arketi Inside, Arketi Group’s internal communications offering dedicated to workforce communications and change management. Anthoine helps organizations engage and inspire employees to build thriving cultures. He has worked with hundreds of companies to transform workforce communications, strengthen the employee-employer relationship, and create more resilient organizations.
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