Using Monkeys to Find Bottlenecks

Every process has a bottleneck, and finding that rate-limiting step is a skill. Recently I learned about a framework, Monkeys and Pedestals, that instantly increased my awareness of rate-limiting steps. 

Below is an excerpt from Annie Duke’s newsletter:

Imagine that you’re trying to teach a monkey to juggle flaming torches while it stands on a pedestal in the town square. Two tasks are competing for your money, time, and attention: training the monkey and building the pedestal.

One is a possibly intractable obstacle. And the other is building the pedestal….

Once you start dumping resources into a project or pursuit, the fear of having wasted those resources if you abandon course makes it hard to walk away. That is why building pedestals before you tackle the monkey is so dangerous. Every dollar or minute that you spend addressing the low hanging fruit creates friction to quitting when you discover that you can’t actually resolve the bottlenecks.

Every minute spent on the pedestal is biding time until you discover whether the monkey problem is solvable or not. 

Here’s a personal example. In 2020 I wanted to start a podcast and had no clue about anything. There were two distinct problems: 1) Figuring out all the technical aspects (recording, editing, publishing, etc) and 2) Producing content. Everything technical was a pedestal problem, and the content creation was my monkey.

Designing a logo, researching microphones, and choosing a hosting platform prolonged addressing the biggest problem. A professional-sounding audio setup is great, but would there be anything for people to listen to?

I spent a few hours researching which microphone to purchase, and quickly got up and running with free versions of hosting and mixing solutions. Reaching out to connections and recording interviews quickly became the focus.

For better or worse I found out relatively quickly whether podcasting was even a possibility.

Next time I’m attempting to launch a new endeavor or get a project off the ground I’ll be sure to look for that monkey.