Rory Sutherland

But as Roger L. Martin says, any idiot can cut costs. The real skill comes in cutting costs without actually losing long-term revenue as a consequence. And so short term cost cutting is dangerously easy. This is where I come back to that point of we're too impatient to be intelligent, that intelligence and wisdom is slow, whereas seeming logic is fast.

You can seemingly logically replace the doorman with a automatic door opening device. What you're failing to notice is the other tacit and subtle human functions, which are dormant, which might be recognition, hailing taxis, also security, okay? You know, basically, you know, you don't want drunkards sleeping in your entrance to your hotel. And simply maintaining the status of the hotel, right?

You can seemingly logically replace the doorman with a automatic door opening device. What you're failing to notice is the other tacit and subtle human functions, which are dormant, which might be recognition, hailing taxis, also security, okay? You know, basically, you know, you don't want drunkards sleeping in your entrance to your hotel. And simply maintaining the status of the hotel, right?

You can seemingly logically replace the doorman with a automatic door opening device. What you're failing to notice is the other tacit and subtle human functions, which are dormant, which might be recognition, hailing taxis, also security, okay? You know, basically, you know, you don't want drunkards sleeping in your entrance to your hotel. And simply maintaining the status of the hotel, right?

That arriving at a hotel, which is notionally a five-star hotel, and kind of, you know, just being met with an automatic door. Even if it's a very fancy automatic door. Americans want a London hotel, okay? If you take American, or for that matter, Asian tourists, they want London to be a bit London-y with a guy in a top hat, okay?

That arriving at a hotel, which is notionally a five-star hotel, and kind of, you know, just being met with an automatic door. Even if it's a very fancy automatic door. Americans want a London hotel, okay? If you take American, or for that matter, Asian tourists, they want London to be a bit London-y with a guy in a top hat, okay?

That arriving at a hotel, which is notionally a five-star hotel, and kind of, you know, just being met with an automatic door. Even if it's a very fancy automatic door. Americans want a London hotel, okay? If you take American, or for that matter, Asian tourists, they want London to be a bit London-y with a guy in a top hat, okay?

A friend of mine booked some friends from Los Angeles in the Hempel Hotel. which was... I don't think it exists anymore. It was in Bayswater. But it was kind of like an LA hotel, which was in London W2. And they were gutted, these Los Angelinos. I mean, they were very cool people, right? But they said, if I come to London, I want horse brasses. I want hunting prints. Yeah. Okay. And so...

A friend of mine booked some friends from Los Angeles in the Hempel Hotel. which was... I don't think it exists anymore. It was in Bayswater. But it was kind of like an LA hotel, which was in London W2. And they were gutted, these Los Angelinos. I mean, they were very cool people, right? But they said, if I come to London, I want horse brasses. I want hunting prints. Yeah. Okay. And so...

A friend of mine booked some friends from Los Angeles in the Hempel Hotel. which was... I don't think it exists anymore. It was in Bayswater. But it was kind of like an LA hotel, which was in London W2. And they were gutted, these Los Angelinos. I mean, they were very cool people, right? But they said, if I come to London, I want horse brasses. I want hunting prints. Yeah. Okay. And so...

There are all these nuances which I think are very, very easy to lose because costs are quantifiable and instantaneous. And opportunity costs, lost opportunities, lost revenue, that's slow and it's generally hard to actually quantify. A lovely story about this, which I wrote about actually in The Spectator, but people won't mind hearing it once more, I hope.

There are all these nuances which I think are very, very easy to lose because costs are quantifiable and instantaneous. And opportunity costs, lost opportunities, lost revenue, that's slow and it's generally hard to actually quantify. A lovely story about this, which I wrote about actually in The Spectator, but people won't mind hearing it once more, I hope.

There are all these nuances which I think are very, very easy to lose because costs are quantifiable and instantaneous. And opportunity costs, lost opportunities, lost revenue, that's slow and it's generally hard to actually quantify. A lovely story about this, which I wrote about actually in The Spectator, but people won't mind hearing it once more, I hope.

I'm driving along this dual carriageway on the Welsh borders and we wanted to buy some milk and the motorway service station appeared to be closed. All the lights were off. The kind of, you know, the petrol fuel logo was off. The fuel prices were off. It looked, you know, like, as I said, like the Bates Motel. It was completely kind of unlit. My wife said, oh, bugger, it's closed.

I'm driving along this dual carriageway on the Welsh borders and we wanted to buy some milk and the motorway service station appeared to be closed. All the lights were off. The kind of, you know, the petrol fuel logo was off. The fuel prices were off. It looked, you know, like, as I said, like the Bates Motel. It was completely kind of unlit. My wife said, oh, bugger, it's closed.

I'm driving along this dual carriageway on the Welsh borders and we wanted to buy some milk and the motorway service station appeared to be closed. All the lights were off. The kind of, you know, the petrol fuel logo was off. The fuel prices were off. It looked, you know, like, as I said, like the Bates Motel. It was completely kind of unlit. My wife said, oh, bugger, it's closed.

We needed to buy her bloody lacto-free milk because she's convinced she has lactose intolerance. But I said, no, hold on a second. I remember going there on Christmas Day. I'm sure that a place that opens on Christmas Day wouldn't close at 7 o'clock in the evening. Let's just go in anyway.

We needed to buy her bloody lacto-free milk because she's convinced she has lactose intolerance. But I said, no, hold on a second. I remember going there on Christmas Day. I'm sure that a place that opens on Christmas Day wouldn't close at 7 o'clock in the evening. Let's just go in anyway.

We needed to buy her bloody lacto-free milk because she's convinced she has lactose intolerance. But I said, no, hold on a second. I remember going there on Christmas Day. I'm sure that a place that opens on Christmas Day wouldn't close at 7 o'clock in the evening. Let's just go in anyway.

And sure enough, we find a fully functioning 24-hour store with, I think, you know, might have been a Starbucks or something as well or a Burger King. And we're the only customers. It's hardly surprising we're the only customers because for everybody else on the road, it looks like the place is closed. So I go up to the guy behind the tiller. I'm a marketing person.