Rory Sutherland: The Surprising Power of Irrational Leadership | HR4Leadership 2026

Logic always gets you to exactly the same place as your competitors. Rory Sutherland — Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK and author of Alchemy — on why psychology is the variable everyone abandons first, and why that’s exactly where the breakthroughs are. Churchill and the stolen salt shaker, £20 billion of infrastructure built with pixels and ink, why big companies are terrified of good bets, and how reverse benchmarking turned a gas station into a destination. Recorded live at HR4Leadership 2026, Hilton Podgorica, Montenegro. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:20 Why small companies (and small countries) have an advantage 02:24 Psychology: the variable everyone drops first 04:32 Churchill and the stolen salt shaker 08:08 The “feels like” temperature 10:30 Your competitors are being rational. That’s your opportunity 11:48 Austrian vs Chicago economics: business as discovery, not efficiency 15:35 The rider, the elephant and the mother-in-law’s birthday 18:33 Price is a feeling: Nespresso, Pampers, dishwasher tablets 20:22 Marketing is a state of mind: Call Ron and the bottomless brunch 23:53 London Overground: £20bn of value with pixels and ink 25:21 It doesn’t look like a bus. So don’t call it a bus 26:11 Changing the question isn’t cheating 26:54 Range anxiety: reduce the anxiety, not just add range 30:05 Uber solved waiting, not the ride 32:43 Reframing: Avis “We try harder” and “reassuringly expensive” 35:03 Expectation: Moxy hotels and Ryanair 38:09 When everyone goes one way, go the other 41:40 The Einstein riddle and the paceometer 50:20 Porto Montenegro: add value here, make money there 53:01 Why the best businesses are founder-led or family-owned 58:00 Defensive decision-making: the bet six of eight executives refused 1:01:35 Business is fat-tailed: Mediocristan vs Extremistan 1:06:56 Loose vs tight fitness functions 1:13:20 Invest in relationships: the last turnip 1:15:56 Be patient: why new behaviour spreads slowly 1:17:51 Optimize for surprise 1:19:48 Reverse benchmarking: Eleven Madison Park, Buc-ee’s, Apple 1:26:05 Change how people see the world ▶ Q&A with Rory: [link] 🎙 Rory on Gentle Provocation (EP. 01): https://youtu.be/Ndw2c41IF3s?si=eqTBQTa655S5WfXP 📅 HR4Leadership 2027 — 7 May 2027, Hilton Podgorica: https://hr4leadership.me/ #RorySutherland #BehavioralScience #Leadership