Curiosity Chronicle The Doorman Fallacy
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Feb 13, 2026 A storyteller unpacks a hotel doorman tale to show how visible savings can hide real costs. He contrasts surface value with deeper value and flags AI-era automation risks. Personal examples like meal prep and outsourcing creativity highlight how efficiency can erode rituals and growth. A reminder to question quick fixes before replacing human processes.
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The Doorman Story
- Rory Sutherland's doorman story shows firing a doorman for an automatic door seemed efficient at first.
- Two years later the hotel suffered because the doorman performed many tacit, value-creating tasks.
Surface Value vs Real Value
- The doorman fallacy names the mistake of valuing only visible functions while ignoring hidden value.
- This leads to systematically mispricing reality and making costly efficiency errors.
Pause Before You Automate
- Before automating or replacing anything, slow down and map the real value being created beyond surface functions.
- Ensure you understand intangible contributions before prioritizing efficiency.
