Summary of Rory Sutherland's Alchemy

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Rory Sutherland's Alchemy in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Why is Red Bull so popular, though everyone—everyone!—hates the taste? Humans are, in a word, irrational, basing decisions as much on subtle external signals (that little blue can) as on objective qualities (flavor, price, quality). The surrounding world, meanwhile, is irreducibly complex and random. This means future success can’t be projected on any accounting spreadsheet. To strike gold, you must master the dark art and curious science of conjuring irresistible ideas: alchemy.

Based on thirty years of field work inside the largest experiment in human behavior ever conceived—the forever-unfolding pageant of consumer capitalism—Alchemy, the revolutionary book by Ogilvy advertising legend Rory Sutherland, whose TED talks have been viewed nearly seven million times, decodes human behavior, blending leading-edge scientific research, absurdly entertaining storytelling, deep psychological insight, and practical case studies from his storied career working on campaigns for AmEx, Microsoft, and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669340706

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Rory Sutherland's Alchemy

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

We have to stop thinking about what people should want and start thinking about what people actually want. Only then will we be able to provide solutions that are truly beneficial to the public.

#2

The world is full of problems that require creative solutions. However, due to the limitations of the human mind, which are called confirmation bias and cognitive bias, we are often limited to seeing things from a narrow view that fits our logic.

#3

One way to increase the effectiveness of your experiments is to use a control group that does not receive the treatment you are testing. This way, you can compare the results of your experiment to a no treatment group.

#4

The first is that we tend to become irritated when our plans are disrupted, even if the reason for the interruption is something we could have avoided.

#5

Problem-solving is a highly status-conscious job. People tend to respect those who solve problems in the fields in which they excel, rather than the other way around.

#6

Inventions often get rejected simply because they don’t adhere to people’s preconceptions or ideas about what should be done.

#7

The scientific community has been extremely cautious when it comes to e-cigarettes, as the long-term effects of vaping haven’t been fully studied.