Forget the Bus! Business Is a Circus Full of Monkeys
We’ve all heard it before in leadership workshops and tidy management books: Jim Collins wrote the metaphor in his book “Good to Great” (I read it!) “Get the right people on the bus, in the right seats.” Or something like that.
It’s a nice idea if you’re running a logistics company in the 1990s.
But if you’re running a modern business? That metaphor is ... well ... no longer accurate. (In my opinion)
Because business isn’t a bus ride.
It’s a circus.
Order is mythical in the wild land of business. Why?
Buses are calm. They move in straight lines. They follow timetables and traffic rules. Everyone’s got a designated seat and a clear destination.
But agency life?
One moment you’re juggling three pitch decks, the next you’re trying to turn a 3-day brief into a full-blown launch strategy overnight. Creative is in revision hell, or therapist mode with a client who has, at the 11th hour, challenged the campaign. The client changed direction (again). Your marketing team is battling a wave of burnout while the account manager is promising miracles.
Welcome to the tent.
Why “Right Seats on the Bus” Doesn’t Cut It Anymore.
The old metaphor assumes stability, that the “seat” stays the same, and your job is to find the perfect person to sit in it forever. But in agency life:
Roles evolve at lightning speed.
Clients pivot without warning.
Trends change by the hour.
And platforms rewrite the rulebook mid-campaign.
You don’t need someone in a seat. You need someone who can work the trapeze and still smile while the tent’s on fire.
Choose the Right Monkeys, Not the Perfect Roles
Marketing, especially agency-side, demands people who can:
Think fast and shift gears quicker.
Be strategic one moment and scrappy the next.
Collaborate in the chaos.
Handle the applause and the disasters.
I didn’t build a great agency by filling seats.
I built it through choosing people who bring energy, adaptability, and curiosity, people who thrive on thinking differently in the unpredictable rhythm of the tent.
Embrace the Circus. Agency success isn’t about structure; it’s about momentum. The ones who last aren’t just technically brilliant. They’re the ones who roll with the madness, spot magic in the mess, and somehow pull a rabbit out of the hat when everyone else is stuck in the brief.
So next time you’re hiring, building a team, or wondering why things feel a bit unhinged, remember:
You’re not driving a bus. You’re running a show and performing in a circus.
Pick the right monkeys.
*No monkeys were harmed while writing this article.