In an early Egyptian village, a priest was summoned when someone had a fever. Willow bark was crushed into a pulp, mixed with honey, and placed under the patient’s tongue while the priest recited a prayer for relief. And often… it worked.
In other parts of the world—among the Greeks, or in parts of China—the same bark was used successfully, though with entirely different preparations and rituals. So clearly, the power didn’t lie in those parts.
In the 19th century, chemists discovered that willow bark contains salicin, which the body converts into salicylic acid—a natural anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. In 1897, Hoffman synthesized a more stable and less irritating version, and aspirin was born.
So we do know now what the active ingredient was behind those bark rituals. But for many interventions, we still don’t fully understand what exactly works—or why.
💡 Why is it important to know what the active component is?
- Because if we don’t, we risk using the effective part less effectively.
Some used willow species that barely contained any salicin. - Because we might add the wrong elements.
Sometimes substances were added that weakened the bark’s effect—or were even harmful. - Because we can then make adaptations that lower the threshold for people to actually use it.
The salicin in willow bark was effective, but caused unpleasant side effects like stomach irritation. Hoffmann synthesized acetylsalicylic acid by adding an acetyl group to salicylic acid. This was gentler on the stomach and still effective—and eventually became aspirin.
When we do not understand the true working mechanism behind an intervention, we remain dependent on trial and error. This means we may miss out on its full potential—and miss the opportunity to improve it into something more effective, more efficient, or simply more pleasant.
Whether it’s medicine, policy, or interventions at work—if we want to scale, sustain, or improve, we need to understand what truly works.
🔍 Not everything that works, works for the reason we think.
🔬 And only once we know what works, can we make it better.
Are there interventions for which you’d like to understand why they work? I’d love to dig into it and write a post about it.
Let me know which advice or practice you’d like to unpack:
- Repetition. Just do it often and you’ll get better. This works for many skills—but not always. So when does it help, and when doesn’t it?
- Gratitude. From journaling to meditation—how exactly does it help?
- Or your own example—like a workplace intervention aimed at behavior change, improving safety, or sparking creativity. Something you’d love to use more often—if only you knew why it worked that one time.
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