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If you define a job narrowly enough, you can automate it. But you might lose the only thing that actually creates value.

The Doorman Fallacy: Why Automating “Tasks” Can Kill Your Value

Doorman Fallacy concept: human hospitality vs automated efficiency comparison

If you define a job narrowly enough, you can automate anything. But you might lose the only thing that actually creates value.

There is a brilliant concept from behavioral economist Rory Sutherland called “The Doorman Fallacy.” It explains perfectly why so many companies are getting AI adoption wrong. They are looking for efficiency, but they are accidentally destroying their brand's signaling power.

What is the Fallacy?

Sutherland explains it like this: If a consultant looks at a hotel doorman, they might define his role as “opening the door.”

If that is the definition, the solution is obvious: Install an automatic sliding door. It is cheaper, faster, and never takes a break. But then, the hotel starts losing money. Why? Because the doorman wasn't just opening the door. He was providing security, recognition, and status.

The AI Lesson: Don't Be the Automatic Door

Right now, C-Suites are looking at their workforce like that consultant. They are asking, “Can AI write this code?” or “Can AI write this email?”

The answer is yes. But if you replace your people with AI, you are just installing automatic doors. You lose the judgment, the context, and the relationship.

The “Ready Thought” Strategy

We shouldn't protect the “task” of opening the door. That should be easy. The goal is to train your people to be AI-Savvy so they can stop doing the robotic work and start doing the human work.

The winning formula: Use AI to handle the logistics (the door opening), so the human can focus on the hospitality (the welcome). Use AI to generate the data, but keep the human to interpret the nuance.

Train Them to Remain Human

This profession—the “Doorman,” the "Advisor,” the “Marketer”—has survived for ages not because of the mechanical tasks we do, but because of the trust we engender.

❖

My advice? Teach your teams to master the tools (AI), but grade them on their humanity. If they use AI to become faster robots, they are redundant. If they use AI to become more attentive humans, they are irreplaceable.

Sources

  • Heywood, Brady. “What is the Doorman Fallacy?” YouTube, 19 Aug. 2025, Watch the Video.
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