Organizations often optimize for what they can measure. Cost savings are clear. Operational efficiencies are easy to document. Human presence, emotional reassurance, and trust-building are not. When leaders undervalue what they cannot quantify, they eliminate roles that hold the experience together. Behavioral economists describe this as a predictable error. In cultural settings, it can be destructive.
The Doorman Fallacy illustrates how removing human roles considered “non-essential” in the name of efficiency produces losses that surface later. The most visible examples come from outside the arts, but they offer important warnings for cultural leaders.
The term originated with behavioral economist Rory Sutherland in his book Alchemy. He describes hotels that eliminated doormen to reduce payroll because the role appeared simple and low-value. Yet doormen provide security, reassurance, hospitality, social status cues, and friction reduction for guests. These benefits do not appear in financial models, but they shape the entire experience. Removing the role saves money while weakening the conditions that create value. This disconnect between what is measurable and what is valuable is the essence of the Doorman Fallacy.
WHY INTANGIBLE VALUE IS OVERLOOKED
Intangible value is difficult to defend within traditional budgeting frameworks. Roles that provide hospitality, interpretation, reassurance, or contextual guidance do not map easily to performance metrics. Their impact appears in emotions, behaviors, and moments of connection that financial tools are not designed to capture.
When organizations rely only on measurable inputs, they underestimate the contribution of human presence. The loss is gradual. Visitors become less comfortable. Engagement weakens. Trust thins out quietly. By the time attendance or satisfaction data signals a problem, the underlying conditions have already shifted.
Human roles often look inefficient on paper. In practice, they are part of the experience architecture. Cultural organizations that overlook these dynamics expose themselves to strategic blind spots that affect loyalty and relevance over time.
WHAT OTHER SECTORS TEACH US
Recent controversies reveal what happens when organizations cut visible costs and ignore invisible consequences. These cases show what cultural institutions must avoid.
State Library Victoria, Australia
In 2024, the State Library Victoria proposed cutting its librarian workforce by more than half. The decision was framed as efficiency. Nearly 200 authors, historians, and civic leaders protested, arguing that librarians carry expertise and emotional guidance essential for equitable access to knowledge. The backlash exposed a simple truth. Removing human mediators weakens the entire experience. The cultural sector should treat this as a warning. Cutting staff who guide and interpret may compromise mission, trust, and accessibility more than budgets predict.
Venice Biennale
Reduced pavilion mediator roles in favor of digital interpretation. Efficiency improved, but context thinned, and engagement dropped.
Museums Cutting Gallery Attendants, United Kingdom
Although motivated by cost savings, reductions in the number of gallery attendants have had consequences. Reports from the American Alliance of Museums and The Guardian note rising incidents of visitors touching or damaging artworks, reduced accessibility support, and weaker interpretive engagement. Several institutions later reinstated staff to stabilize the visitor experience. This is a direct signal to cultural leaders. When human presence is undervalued, the visitor journey degrades quietly but significantly.
These cases reveal a consistent pattern. Efficiency optimizations often ignore the intangible conditions that shape memory, trust, and participation.
STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES FOR CULTURAL LEADERS
Recognize hidden value
Human-facing roles sustain emotional atmosphere, comfort, and engagement. These contributions are essential even when they do not appear in financial models.
Protect the visitor journey
Hospitality, interpretation, and guidance are structural elements of cultural experience. Removing them disrupts visitors’ understanding and navigation of the space.
Weigh savings against long-term effects
Short-term efficiencies can erode loyalty and trust. Decisions must consider qualitative outcomes alongside budget pressures.
Strengthen interpretive and front-of-house teams
These roles carry cultural intelligence that shapes how audiences learn, feel, and connect.
Develop metrics for intangible outcomes
Qualitative research, narrative feedback, and observational studies can illuminate value that budgets overlook.
A CAUTION FOR THE ARTS SECTOR
Cultural participation is built on emotional resonance. When organizations prioritize measurable efficiencies over human connection, they risk undermining the very conditions that create value. The Doorman Fallacy is a reminder that presence, guidance, and care are not peripheral. They are core components of cultural experience.
Other sectors learned these lessons the hard way, by cutting too deeply. Cultural institutions can avoid similar mistakes by recognizing and defending the intangible forms of value that audiences rely on.
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