Alchemy is the story of making money, in a very literal sense. This book takes you through time, from ancient Babylonian times to the present day and explores what makes people want their fortunes to change: greed, status-seeking or love? It looks at how gold was used as a currency for millennia before we learnt about paper money. The pre-modern world saw luxury goods such as spices traded across Asia and Europe and gives insight into why it took so long for banking systems to develop properly.
“The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream” is a book written by Rory Sutherland. The book tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel to the fabled city of gold in search of treasure.
Are you seeking for a synopsis of Rory Sutherland’s book Alchemy? You’ve arrived to the correct location.
I completed reading this book last week and took notes on some of Rory Sutherland’s important points.
If you don’t have time, you don’t have to read the whole book. This description will give you a general idea of what you can learn from this book.
Let’s get started without further ado.
I’ll go through the following points in this Alchemy summary:
What is the purpose of alchemy?
In a society preoccupied with rationality, Alchemy makes the case for irrational thinking.
Based on his own experience working in the advertising business, Rory Sutherland argues in his book that the world is too complicated to be examined from a single viewpoint.
In order to solve daily difficulties, we must dig beyond surface analysis and be receptive to even the most bizarre ideas, which may sometimes be quite useful. Then we’ll be true alchemists.
Who is the Alchemy Author?
Rory Sutherland joined the award-winning advertising firm Ogilvy in 1988 and is now vice chairman.
Sutherland is the author of the book The Wiki Man and has talked at Ted Global many times. He is one of the most powerful advertising executives in the world.
He currently contributes to the Spectator, Market Leader, and Impact publications on a regular basis.
What is the Purpose of Alchemy?
Not everyone is suited to alchemy. If you are one of the following folks, you may like the book:
- Advertisers and brand managers that want to learn more about their consumers
- Entrepreneurs and business strategists looking for novel approaches to generate fresh ideas
- Logic overload for the creators
Summary of Alchemy
Introduction
Logic underpins everything from economic models to data-driven technology to spreadsheet-based enterprises. This style of life provides us the sense of control while simultaneously limiting our capacity to think creatively.
When it comes to tackling human issues, economists, legislators, and business owners often depend too much on rationality. Humans are seen to be rational beings with universal goals and motives. This is not correct.
Rather of comprehending what really occurs, governments and CEOs spend a lot of time developing assumptions about how people behave. If you want to influence people’s choices, you must disregard logic and embrace illogical possibilities. This is called alchemy by the author.
This book will teach you how to better comprehend the human psychology, generate amazing ideas, and see the world in new ways.
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Lesson 1: Human conduct is not always logically explainable.
Many aspects of life need logical thought. Logic and reason have led to major scientific breakthroughs and the development of the infrastructure that our nations depend on. However, rationality does not always apply in all situations, particularly when it comes to human conduct.
Complex, illogical individuals make bizarre judgments and seldom act in predictable ways. Consider how we appreciate brands: we value some more than others, even if the items are of identical quality or usefulness.
Take, for example, toothpaste. Despite the fact that there is no evident benefit to using stripy toothpaste over other forms, customers prefer it. Why? It’s an ingenious design.
Striped toothpaste has numerous color lines. This indicates that we will get several advantages from a single tube, including teeth whitening, breath refreshing, and bacteria-fighting.
It provides the appearance that stripy toothpaste is more effective in certain ways. Finally, our liking for it is illogical, demonstrating how difficult it is to forecast our actions and judgments.
This explains why allegedly logical assumptions about people, such as those found in economic models or business case studies, often fail.
Many companies in the United States assume that employee productivity is dictated by the number of hours they work. According to them, workers who take more vacation time must be less productive. Humans are sometimes compared to machines by companies, and like machinery, they may rust and become inefficient if kept inactive for too long.
Wouldn’t it be preferable if workers had more free time to do a better job? Employees who are happy and well rested are more likely to desire to work later in life. Just look at European enterprises when it comes to productivity: in Germany, employees receive six weeks of paid vacation each year, and the economy is thriving; in France, workers enjoy significant vacation allowances and are nevertheless very productive.
Companies have the right to urge their workers to work longer hours. They might learn some surprising things if they let go of their preconceptions and think outside the box.
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Lesson 2: Companies should pay attention to the finer points.
You must be the finest in the world to thrive in business nowadays. Companies often believe that in order to increase market share, they must tackle the world&