When
you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common
you appear, and the less in control. Even if you' re saying something banal, it
will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended,and sphinxible, Powerful
people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely
you are to say something foolish.
KEY TO POWER
Power is
in many ways a game of appearances, and when you say less than necessary, you
inevitable appear greater and more powerful than you are. Your silence will
make other people uncomfortable. Humans are machines of interpretations and
explanation; they have to know what you are thinking. When you carefully
control what you reveal, they cannot pierce your intentions or your meaning.
Your short answers and silences will put them on the defensive,and they will
jump in, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of comments that will
reveal valuable information about them and their weaknesses.
They
will leave a meeting with you feeling as if they had been robbed, and they will
go home and ponder your every word, This extra attention to your brief comments
will only add to your power. As a young man, the artist Andy Warhol had the
revelation that it was generally impossible to get people to do what you wanted
them to do by talking to them.They would turn against you, subvert your wishes,
disobey you out of sheer perversity.
He
once told a friend, " I learned that you actually have more power when you
shut up." In his later life Warhol employed this strategy with great
success. His interviews were exercises in oracular speech: He would say
something vague and ambiguous, and the interviewer would twist in circles
trying to figure it out, imagining there was something profound behind his
meaningless phrases.Warhol rarely talked about his work: he let others to do
interpreting.
The
less he said about his work, the more people talked about it. And the more they
talked the more valuable his work became.By saying less than necessary you
create the appearance of meaning and power. Also, the less you say, the less
risk you of saying something foolish, even dangerous. In 1825, a new czar,
Nicholas I, ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led
by liberals demanding that the country modernize - that its industries and
civil structures catch up with the rest of Europe. Brutally crushing this
rebellion (the Decembrist Uprising), Nicholas I, sentenced one of its leaders,
Kondraty Ryleyev, to death.
On
the day of the execution Ryleyev stod on the gallows, the noose around his
neck. The Trapdoor opened - but as Ryleyev dangled the rope broke, dashing him
to the ground. At the time, events like this were considered signs of
providence or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution this way was
usually pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing
his neck had been saved, he called out to the crowd, "You see, in Russia
they don't know how to do anything properly, not even how to make rope!" A
messenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the failed
hanging.
Vexed
by this disappointing turnabout, Nicholas I, nevertheless began to sign the
Pardon. But then: "Did Ryleyev say anything after miracle? the czar asked
the messenger. "Sire," the messenger replied, "he said that in
Russia they don't know make rope," "In that case," said the
Czar, "let us prove the contrary," and he tore up the Pardon. The
next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope did not break.
Learn
the Lesson: Once the word are out, you cannot take them back. Keep them
under control. Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The momentary satisfaction
you gain with your biting words will be out-weighed by the price you pay.
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