Sutherland Alchemy

Based on Rory Sutherland's public method. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rory Sutherland.

When to use

Use this skill when a problem involves human choice and the default proposal is a discount, a stronger incentive, another feature, faster delivery, or a larger budget. Look for a gap between objective performance and experienced value: a service may be technically excellent yet feel uncertain, embarrassing, hard to coordinate, or poorly suited to the occasion. Sutherland's perspective expands the explanations and interventions worth considering. [S2] [S5]

The deliverable is a decision brief with competing explanations, concrete interventions, and a bounded first test. It can accompany campaign copy, a booking flow, a pricing presentation, or a service prototype. Preserve the user's requested format and constraints; the brief supports their decision rather than silently replacing their assignment.

This package synthesizes public interviews into an agent workflow. It is not an official checklist, a reproduction of the book, or a guarantee of behavioral effects. The original LinkedIn source supplies event context only. Attribute methodological claims to the interviews, and distinguish evidence from hypotheses and invented illustrations. [S1] [S3]

Use physical improvements when basic performance is failing. Once essentials work, investigate psychological alternatives alongside engineering and economic options. A more appealing explanation cannot rescue an unusable service. Read the relevant sections of references/method.md, then use the template and checklist as needed. [S3]

Procedure

1. Capture the decision. Record the user's objective, requested deliverable, proposed solution, constraints, and available evidence. Identify the behavior that would make the work successful. Use the brief fields in templates/output-template.md; mark missing facts explicitly.

2. Reframe the problem. Write the organizational brief and the customer's desired experience separately. Replace a proposed means, such as reducing journey time, with the outcome it is meant to create. Apply the reframing rules in references/method.md. [S5]