48 Laws of Power Study

[rwarlick]

Any interest in taking one law per week, starting with Law 1 - NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER, analyzing it, discussing it?

Downside: you gotta buy the book
Upside: you gotta buy the book

by the way, i have no financial interest in this proposal whatsoever.

[Jugga J]

I'm sure a clever person would send a link....no?

[Akashic_Librarian]

OK...Never outshine the Master.

Ermm no I don't like it!

[Jugga J]

and 'never outshine the master' .... all the great minds surpassed their masters....BAD BAD

[rwarlick]

is the name of the book, the author is Robert Greene. Is there a way to order the book (from amazon or whoever) through this site to give Steve a piece of the action?

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Rod Warlick

Law 1 - NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER,

If you ever have a master who talks like this... do an about face and run like hell...

.

[Steve Pavlina]

One of my favorite books -- it's listed on the recommended reading page. If you don't learn those laws, you'll probably have them used on you without knowing it.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Rod Warlick

is the name of the book, the author is Robert Greene. Is there a way to order the book (from amazon or whoever) through this site to give Steve a piece of the action?

Here is the link to amazon...

.

[Angela]

...and here are the 48 laws in a nutshell

[Brutha]

and 'never outshine the master' .... all the great minds surpassed their masters....BAD BAD

They still didn't made their bosses feel that they have surpassed them (at least while they were their bosses ).

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Angela

...and here are the 48 laws in a nutshell

Thank you Angela... great link...

The guy who wrote that must have read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu...

.

[A.K.Light]

I have sort of an interesting story involving this first law but I'll try not to get too detailed or personal with it.

In this particular case, I was the master. I was working with someone with a lot less experience and knowledge than me, and we both knew it. However, she would constantly try to catch me making mistakes (which I wasn't) and she would constantly wave all of her accomplishments in front of my face, as if she was the greatest that had ever walked the Earth. At first, I was getting angry, thinking that she was being disrespectful and pompous. I just want people to learn to do the job well, no need to brag or try to drag others down in the process.

Just as I was about to snap, I remembered what I had read about this first law only about two weeks earlier. She wasn't actually trying to outshine me, it just felt like it. What she was really doing was trying to impress me with how much progress she has made. She was trying to get me to appreciate her and give her compliments. She tried to catch my mistakes not to make fun of me or to make herself feel superior, but to prove her worth to me.

Even though she was going about it in sort of a bad way, I'm glad that I was able to realise that what she was doing was not of malicious intent. She didn't mean to try to outshine me, she just wanted recognition and approval.

The first law saved me from crushing an innocent person just because of a simple mistake.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by A.K.Light

The first law saved me from crushing an innocent person just because of a simple mistake.

Great post A.K.Light... a long time ago, I was quite fast on the trigger when I felt that anyone was being disrespectful or simply challenged my opinion... but with time I learned that self-control was more important than an empty victory...

So, now, when I feel the hair curling in my nose... I simply back off until I cool down and have time to examine the situation in a rational way... and I can honestly say that I have never regretted taking that approach...

.

[rwarlick]

"All About Eve" is a pretty good cinematic play-out of a 1st Law reversal.

How about the Seinfeld episode where George goes to bat for his new secretary and asks Steinbrenner for a raise on her behalf. She ends up getting the raise, making about $25K more than her new boss.

George protests: A secretary isn't supposed to make more than her boss.

Her reply: Well, apparently she can.

[Namaste]

Upside: I already have that book!

Love it. Not the one to be read from cover to cover, but it's full of anecdotes and historical examples. And definitely makes a lot of sense from an influence and power point of view.

[ArthurHung]

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is not only a very useful read but also a very entertaining one. The laws themselves seem straightforward but the book gives them depth; the countless examples and stories definitely makes one think hard about how people act, and why. It's a great darkworker perspective and the stories, analogies, metaphores, examples combined with its unique prose and layout gives the book a very comfortable feel. You also feel smarter when you read it

[palimpsest]

So reprehensibly cutthroat and Machiavellian! I love it.

A.K.Light, that's a great story -- it gave me a lot of perspective, since I used to be in the place of your underling. I wish all my unfortunate authorities were as wise as you in dealing with my younger desperate self. (Instead they got all passive-aggressive and I gave up trying to please them and deliberately failed at everything I did instead in order to try and kill my ego. Er, could've been handled better?)

[rwarlick]

for guidance on how to execute the first law. Radar O'Reilly and his mildly incompetent Colonel have it down. Radar is the unassuming support person who manages the Colonels affairs, and is famous for completing sentences - knowing what the Colonel thinks before the Colonel.

The first Colonel, Blake, played by Maclean Stevenson, is the one I'm talking abut here. His replacement was a bit more on top of things.

[ticktockclok]

I found it to be pretty stupid. All he did was go around and look for ways people gained power and put a couple historical examples to make one chapter. Half the laws contradict each other, and most of the laws make you an *********************.

[Asmoday]

It doesn't say, you know, don't surpass your master, it says don't outshine your master. And, as we live in a "free" society, you can usually change them at any time.

Everyone has a master. Everyone. Except maybe, the ascetic monk, but even he is dependent or answers to someone. This Law springs up because of interconnectedness, ironically. Its one of those funky realities of the universe. Most people, myself included, have more than one.

For example, even if you own your own business, your master is your customers.

I define master in this context to mean anyone whose approval you must have to achieve/maintain your goals. Such as your spouse if you've found your perfect soul mate -- lose em and the goal is on temporary hiatus.

So, outshining that person usually is the quickest way to get them to yank their approval. That's like Steve blogging about how we all suck and will never be as cool as him.

Personally, I'd love to see a blogger just up and do that, I'd laugh for days, but I think loosing their audience is a forgone conclusion at that point.

[Smooth]

I'm interested. Is the week up yet?

I have it, kinda skimmed through all the way to law 14.

I will start re-reading the laws one by one to fully understand.

Nice idea for a thread by the way Rod.

[ChaosKiwi]

Man after reading that linked list I'm really, really glad I don't have a lust for power!