Over the summer, I like to expand my reading list into different topics. This year I discovered Rory Sutherland and his book Alchemy: The Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense. Sutherland is a British marketing executive and vice chairman of Ogilvy, but his insights go far beyond advertising. His book weaves together ideas from economics, psychology, evolutionary biology, and philosophy. It’s packed with practical wisdom for personal growth as well as for running and marketing a business.
While the book is full of insights on nearly every page, here are five key takeaways that I found especially relevant for employers and business leaders.
Link to 1. “If you are wholly predictable, people learn to hack you.” 1. “If you are wholly predictable, people learn to hack you.”
Sutherland argues that the best ideas often come from unexpected places. He urges readers not to rely solely on logic, but also to leave room for chance, counterintuitive thinking, and the quirks of human psychology.
One of his fascinating examples comes from bee colonies: roughly 20% of bees ignore the “waggle dance” instructions that tell them where to find pollen. Instead, they set off in random directions, often discovering new sources of food. Without these “adventurer bees”—which I like to think of as modern venture capitalists—the hive would eventually fail once its known sources ran dry.
Takeaway: There’s risk mitigation in being unpredictable. Businesses benefit when they experiment, explore new opportunities, and avoid becoming entirely predictable.
Link to 2. Psycho-logic 2. Psycho-logic
Sutherland introduces the idea of “psycho-logic”:
“Logic is what makes a successful engineer or mathematician, but psycho-logic is what has made us a successful breed of monkey, that has survived and flourished over time. This alternative logic emerges from a parallel operating system within the human mind, which often operates unconsciously, and is far more powerful and pervasive than you realize. Rather like gravity, it is a force that nobody noticed until someone put a name to it.”
He points out that strict logic always leads to the same place as your competitors. The problem is that business often underestimates—and even ignores—the role of psychology in determining whether a product or service succeeds.
Takeaway: Employers and business leaders should remember that psychology, not just logic, drives customer and employee behavior.
Link to 3. Rethinking Hiring 3. Rethinking Hiring
Sutherland makes an important observation:
“[W]e are much more likely to take risks when hiring ten people than when hiring one.”
This, he argues, can naturally lead to more diversity without imposing quotas. He even says he’d interview a candidate with a “rotten” degree if that person were also the reigning under-25 UK backgammon champion. Why? Because unusual achievements signal qualities you won’t uncover by applying identical hiring criteria across the board.
Takeaway: Be wary of hiring averages. Standardized criteria produce standardized hires. Employers who take calculated risks in hiring can uncover exceptional and unexpected talent.
Link to 4. Two Types of Businesses 4. Two Types of Businesses
Sutherland describes two business models:
- The tourist restaurant approach – focused on maximizing profit from a single transaction.
- The local pub approach – focused on cultivating long-term relationships and repeat visits.
The latter model is built on trust. For example, businesses that resolve customer problems at their own expense demonstrate they are invested in long-term relationships. On the other hand, businesses that squeeze for short-term profits often come across as untrustworthy.
Takeaway: Employers should ask themselves whether they’re building for one-time transactions—or building for loyalty.
Link to 5. Why Branding Matters 5. Why Branding Matters
Sutherland explains:
“Without the feedback loop made possible by distinctive and distinguishable petals or brands, nothing can improve.”
His example comes from Soviet factories, which were once required to produce a quota of rivets each month. Since the rivets couldn’t be stamped with the factory’s name, no one could tell which factories were producing poor-quality rivets. Over time, the incentive to care about quality disappeared – and the factories found it was easier to hit monthly quotas of rivets of poor-quality. Without names, the rivets became commodities. Once factories were required to stamp their names on the rivets, quality improved dramatically.
Takeaway: Branding provides accountability, feedback, and differentiation. Without it, quality suffers and products become commodities.
Alchemy is filled with unconventional wisdom that challenges the way we think about business and human behavior. These five lessons only scratch the surface, but they highlight the importance of embracing unpredictability, understanding psychology, taking smart risks in hiring, building long-term trust, and valuing the power of branding.
For employers, Sutherland’s message is clear: the best solutions often don’t make sense at first glance—but that’s exactly what makes them powerful.