Why “We’ve Never Done This Before” is the Ultimate Growth Killer

TLDR; Blindly following legacy rules kills curiosity and stalls innovation. When we defend processes without understanding why they exist, we turn our experts into disengaged box-checkers.

This week, we dive into the famous "Five Monkeys Experiment" to break down why "we've never done this before" is a dangerous trap - and how you can build the psychological safety your team needs to dare to do things differently.

I was chatting with a colleague the other day, and he shared an interaction that immediately made my stomach drop.

He had just pitched a creative approach to solve a nagging issue he and his squad had been battling for months. It was an outside-the-box solution designed to unlock new ways of improving transparency and reducing risk.

The response he got from his partners?

“We’ve never done this before, so why are we doing it now?”

Oof!

It’s a phrase that many of us have heard—or perhaps even caught ourselves thinking - at some point in our careers. On the surface, it feels safe. It wears the mask of risk management and operational stability. But in reality? It’s a silent killer of curiosity, innovation, and real engagement.

When we default to the status quo simply because it's familiar, we aren't innovating. We are just managing a queue of old habits.

It reminded me of a famous behavioral experiment that perfectly captures this exact collaborative phenomenon:

The 5 Monkeys Experiment

Imagine five monkeys are placed in a locked room. In the center, there is a ladder leading up to a delicious bunch of bananas hanging at the very top.

Naturally, it doesn't take long for one eager monkey to start climbing the ladder to grab the prize. But the moment his foot touches the first rung, the researchers spray all five monkeys with freezing cold water.

A little later, another monkey decides to brave the climb. Again, the entire group gets blasted with the freezing spray. Eventually, the monkeys learn that touching the ladder equals punishment.

The researchers then remove the hose entirely but keep the experiment going.

Here’s where it gets interesting. One of the original monkeys is replaced with a new one who has never seen the water spray. The new monkey naturally goes to the ladder for the bananas, but the others immediately stop him and even attack him.

Over time, more new monkeys are introduced one by one until none of the originals are left. Not a single monkey left in that cage has ever been sprayed with water. Yet, they will all attack anyone who dares touch the ladder.

If you could ask them why they do it, the only answer would be: “Because that’s the way it’s always been done.”

The "Sacred Cows" in Your Workflow

I see this play out in organizations all the time.

A process, a heavy approval loop, or a rigid way of working was established years ago because of a specific "cold water spray." Maybe a major bug slipped into production, a key stakeholder got blindsided, or a compliance audit flagged an issue. To fix it, a strict rule or checklist was put in place.

But over time, the landscape changes. The technology evolves. The original "monkeys" move on to other roles or projects. Yet, the legacy process remains. It becomes an unchallengeable sacred cow.

And when a fresh, enthusiastic partner looks at the hanging bananas and suggests a new way to reach them, the rest of the group immediately pulls them down. They aren't doing it out of malice; they are doing it because the culture has conditioned them to fear the ladder.

Moving From Compliance to Curiosity

If we want to build teams and partnerships that thrive, we have to stop beating up the peers who want to climb. We have to cultivate an environment where questioning the status quo isn’t seen as a lack of alignment, but as an act of care for the product, the team, and the customer.

The next time you hear—or find yourself saying—“we’ve never done this before,” I want you to pause. Instead of treating it as a stop sign, treat it as an invitation to explore. Shift from compliance to curiosity by asking three simple questions:

1. What was the original "cold water spray" that created this rule? (Is that threat still real today?)
2. What are we actually afraid of? What will happen if we try something new? (Name the fear so you can manage it.)
3. What is the smallest, safest experiment we can run to test this new path?

We don't need to tear down every workflow overnight. But we do need to ensure our processes are actively serving our outcomes, rather than just policing our outputs.

This Week’s Coach’s Challenge

Are you ready to challenge the status quo and help your squad do things differently? Take the Coach’s Challenge this week:

• Spot a "Sacred Cow": Look at your current workflows, recurring meetings, or sign-off
  
  procedures. Identify one thing your team does purely out of habit.

• Ask the "Why": Trace it back. Ask your partners, “Why do we do this this way? What problem are we solving?” If the answer is some variation of “because we've always done it,” you’ve found your ladder.
• Run a Safe Experiment: Don't overhaul the entire system. Instead, design a low-risk, time-bound experiment to try the new approach for just one sprint or iteration.
• Review and Adapt: At your next retrospective, look at the data. Did you get sprayed with cold water? Or did your team finally taste the bananas?

We don't have to swing for the fences with every improvement... and it's very rare that a process was put in place for NO reason. That said, things change and we should regularly challenge the way we are working to find ways we can be more effective, efficient or engaged with what we do!

What's stopping you?

We all win together!

Coach Dan