Rory Sutherland on BE - part 2

Listening to Rory Sutherland’s comical and pithy oratory, it is easy to find yourself nodding along in a happy, unquestioning manner. It reminded us of belief bias, where a conclusion seems so plausible that the logical basis of the argument isn’t fully analysed!

That said, there were some lovely nuggets in Rory’s talk last week – and although we can't do him justice here, we’re delighted to share a few notes:

A double-standard. In a Midwestern office block, the slow lifts were causing frustration. A complex engineering solution would improve the speed of the lifts – but the cost would be significant. One bright spark came up with an alternative: putting big mirrors on each floor. This induced grooming and mild voyeurism, and consequently people didn’t mind waiting for the lifts anymore. A fantastic, counterintuitive solution. But it points to a double-standard. Why is creativity policed by logic, but not the other way around? Creativity is judged by the standards and metrics of accountants. Yet engineers implementing a costly technical solution don’t get penalised from not coming up with a creative, cheaper alternative! Why is no-one is fired for being unimaginative?

Time. The lift example also points to the subjective nature of time. Time is not fixed but experienced according to our context, emotional state and so on. Psychology provides us a different way of viewing problems – and so leads to some simple and economical solutions. Why spend a load of money improving the speed of trains in the UK? Just give people Angry Birds and time loses all meaning! What’s an extra few minutes with comfy seats and free wifi?!

Language. Talking about marketing is a bit like talking about astrology. You’re fine doing it with a fellow believer. But talking to finance guys about brand iconography is like going to a physician and talking about crystal healing. With BE, we can challenge existing financial models, while speaking in a language that comes much more naturally to the finance guys. BE provides a cogent model and language.