Rory Sutherland

Reputation matters

A brand inspires trust because when you have a strong reputation, you have something to lose by cutting corners or selling a poor product. There is always some uncertainty in any transaction, but buying from someone with a good reputation reduces that risk. There is a feedback loop at play too. If a brand lets people down, word spreads, trust erodes, and that reputation can be damaged through bad experiences or negative talk.

“Understanding that behavioural economics is a rebranding of psychology which allows you to have conversations about psychology to people who wouldn’t be happy talking about psychology.”
— Rory Sutherland

It never happens

I think that if you are not being creative, then you are not being fully rational. If you don’t allow room for the imagination, you’re not actually being intelligent; you’re only being logical. Truly robust and rigorous decision-making must involve a degree of mental experimentation.
Have you ever heard of a CFO asking the design department for their thoughts on the numbers in the quarterly forecast before presenting them to the accountants?

“Creative people must always present their ideas to rational people. Note this never happens the other way round.”
— Rory Sutherland