41. AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN’S SHOES.

LAW:

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after:  If you succeed a great man  or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them.  Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course.  Slay the overbearing father; disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

Choose a different path and personal style if you are the daughter or son of a great person. You will forever be in your predecessor’s shadow unless you find a way to shine on your own.

Only after the father figure has been done away with will there be space to establish a new order.

Do not become complacent once you reach success and security. Prosperity makes us lazy. Writers like Tennessee Williams preferred the struggle to security; the way poverty or emotional difficulties pushed them to create good work.

Reversal:

When using great man’s shadow to ride to the top.

Use the great man’s method if they are wise and accepted.

Beware of others below you stepping into your shoes.

42. STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER.

LAW:

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual  - the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill.  If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence.  Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable.  Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them.  Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

Within any group, trouble can be traced to a single source, the unhappy, chronically unsatisfied one who stirs up dissension and infects the group. Recognize troublemakers by their complaining nature. Separate him from the group.

In every group power is concentrated in the hands of one or two people. Human nature shows people will orbit around a single strong personality.

Reversal:

Beware if they can return to harm you, however keep them close to disarm them.

43. WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS.

LAW:

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.  You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear.  Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Transgression of the Law:

Marie-Antoinette was put to death by guillotine in 1793, after the French monarchy was ended by the revolution. Not a single soul came to her defense. Marie-Antoinette brought upon herself the hatred of all. Her jewelry, wardrobe, hair, and masked balls, her lavish lifestyle had been more important to her than the needs of her people.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

Aim at the primary emotions: love, hate, and jealousy. Be alert to people’s individual psychologies and their basic emotional responses.

Maintain a stable of writers, artists, or intellectuals who are very good at appealing to people’s hearts and minds.

Reversal:

There is None

44. DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR EFFECT.

LAW:

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception:  When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact.  By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson.  Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

• The neutralizing effect: Do what your enemies do, follow their actions and they will not see what you are up to. When you mirror them, it mocks and humiliates them. Mimicry infuriates.
• The Shadow effect: Shadow your opponents’ every move, gather information, and gain insight to their routines and habits without them seeing you.
• The Mirror effect: Show you understand by reflecting their innermost feelings.
• The Moral effect: Teach others a lesson by giving them a taste of their own medicine.
• The Hallucinatory effect: offer a perfect copy of an object, place or person and see how people take the bait.

Reversal:

• When you cannot mirror to the right level.
• Where you get wrongly associated with the people left behind.

45. PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE.

LAW:

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit.  Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt.  If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old ways of doing things.  If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

• Make change and reform seem like a gentle improvement on the past. People are creatures of habit and the sudden change will cause some to rebel.
• Disguise change by dressing it in tradition.

Reversal:

• An unacceptable past that has been removed, however do not leave a void as it create terror.
• Art, fashion and technology, however the past is more stable.

46. NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT.

LAW:

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but the most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses.  Envy creates silent enemies.  It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable.  Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

• Never underestimate the power of envy. Occasionally reveal a weakness, defect, or anxiety, or find new friends. It is the people in your own circle of peers who will be the first to envy your success.
• Envy is often a problem for people who have great natural talent. You may think you are charming people with your natural talent when in fact they are coming to hate you for it.
• To deflect envy, employ a display of weakness, or a harmless vice.
• Envy is disguised sometimes as excessive praise, or slander and criticism. Win your revenge by ignoring the envious.

Reversal:

Display the utmost disdain for those who envy you. Instead of hiding your perfection, make it obvious. Make every triumph an opportunity to make the envious squirm.

47. DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR; IN VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP.

LAW:

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril.  In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for; and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat.  Do now allow success to go to your head.  There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning.  Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

• The powerful know that the essence of strategy is controlling what comes next.
• There is no better time to stop and walk away than after a victory.

Reversal:

• When you need to completely destroy the enemy, however do not create more enemies.
• Buyers remorse is unnecessary.

48. ASSUME FORMLESSNESS.

LAW:

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move.  Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed.  The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order.  Everything changes.

Wisdom in a nutshell:

Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. Be as fluid and formless as water, adapting and moving with change naturally. The powerful are creative in expressing something new. This feminine, formless style of ruling as practiced by Elizabeth of England and Catherine of Russia, allows flexibility and makes subjects feel less coerced. Play the chameleon but break your enemy from the inside. Morph and adapt but keep your long-term strategy in mind at all times.

Reversal:

Concentrate power when needed.