๐Ÿ’Ž On the stupid and hard-working (versus clever and lazy)

Here is the main thrust of Neil French’s e-mail: “The German General stuff used to divide officers into four categories: the clever and lazy, the clever and hard-working, the stupid and lazy and the stupid and hard-working. The best Generals, the Germans found, came from the clever and lazy; the best staff officers emerged from the clever and hard-working; the stupid and lazy could be made useful as regimental officers; but the stupid and hard-working were a menace, to be disposed of as soon as possible.”

Excerpt from: Rory Sutherland: The Wiki Man by Rory Sutherland

๐Ÿ’Ž On the pernicious effect of “the Arithmocracy” (more specifically, the spreadsheet)

What the spreadsheet has done is to create in organisations and governments an over-reliance on numbers (by no means always meaningful or even accurate) with the result that often spurious numerical targets, metrics or values invariably override any conflicting human judgment. This has given rise to what a colleague of mine, Anthony Tasgal, calls “The Arithmocracy”: a powerful left-brained administrative caste which attaches importance only to things which can be expressed in numerical terms or on a chart.

Excerpt from: Rory Sutherland: The Wiki Man by Rory Sutherland

๐Ÿ’Ž On removing anxieties about buying a product (Dr Pepper)

But weirdly, Iโ€™ve never asked for Dr Pepper in a bar because you know theyโ€™re not going to have it and thereโ€™s that mild embarrassment about asking for something they havenโ€™t got, and feeling like a bit of a twat. However, if you ask for Coke and they donโ€™t have it, itโ€™s their fault not yours, the whole dynamicโ€™s completely different. The only place that itโ€™s socially acceptable not to sell Coke is a total health farm weirdo place full of organic produce, and even then itโ€™s a bit irritating. Theyโ€™ll have loads of those Fentimans Victorian-style lemonades, and even then itโ€™s a bit irritatingโ€”come on, just sell Coke for crying out loud! Everywhere else has to sell Coke and itโ€™s their fault if they havenโ€™t got it. An aversion to little things like minor forms of embarrassment stop me from being a maximiser and asking for Dr Pepper, and Iโ€™ll always ask for Diet coke if Iโ€™m in a pub or a bar unless they have some massive sign saying โ€˜We Sell Dr Pepperโ€™, in which case I would obviously ask for Dr Pepper.

Excerpt from: Rory Sutherland: The Wiki Man by Rory Sutherland