In the Pond Lesson #4: Exercising the Power Principles from Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power to the Novel In the Pond (We’re not going to cover all 48 Laws, just the ones that are applicable to Bin and his superiors)
McMahon's View of Power: Power Is Based on Leverage
What is leverage?
Leverage as a verb means two things:
In the financial world, to leverage means to use any technique to multiply gains and minimize losses.
In a more general sense, to leverage means to use various methods to gain advantage, influence, or power.
Leverage as a noun means acquired power.
How We Get Leverage
1. having knowledge of our opponent that he doesn't want us to have.
2. having something your opponent wants and is willing to pay for its acquisition.
3. having better options than those your opponent is offering you.
4. having a powerful friend or alliance who will stand up for you, even retaliate against your opponent, should the opponent not meet your demands.
5. having moral highground over your opponent.
6. your opponent is smart enough to see that you are smarter than he is.
7. your opponent is smart enough to see that he is weaker than you are.
8. having an opponent who's smart enough to understand that while he needs nothing from you now, he may need something from you later.
9. knowing what your leverage is in relation to your opponents; in other words, you do not overplay or underplay your leverage.
10. knowing when it's beneficial to keep secret or make public your leverage.
11. knowing when to shut off the leverage part of your brain. If you're always seeking out leverage, no on will like you because they'll always have to be on the defensive. Don't mix work and friendship when it comes to leverage.
Review Different Essay Approaches
One Asperger Syndrome
While intellectually and artistically gifted, Bin is a victim of his own Asperger Syndrome evidenced by ___________, ___________, ____________, and ________________.
Two. Long-Ranger and Close-Ranger
The Longer-Ranger is characterized by ________, ________, ________, and _________ while the Close-Ranger, like Bin, is characterized by ____________, ___________, ___________, and _______________.
Three. The Laws of Power
Bin's behavior in the novel is a playbook on how NOT to exercise the 48 Laws of Power. Bin's most egregious violations include _________, __________, ___________, ______________, and _________________.
Four. Anti-Hero
Bin is the consummate anti-hero evidenced by __________, _________, _________, and _______________.
Five. Student Essay Idea in Support of Bin
While McMahon has lambasted Bin as a "nincompoop," our critical emphasis should be addressed to the dehumanizing elements in Bin's world that make Bin, however misguided, a sympathetic figure. Our sympathy for Bin should be rooted in ____________, __________, _____________, and _______________.
Six. Another Student Essay That Counters the Above One
The student who says we should sympathize with Bin is misguided for several reasons, not the least of which is ___________, ___________, _____________, and ________________.
Law 1: Never Outshine the Master: “Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them [and spite them as in Bin’s case], do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite—inspire fear and insecurity. Make your master appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.”
Lesson from the Novel:
Of course, Bin is stupid in trying to impress his superiors with his artistry while attacking them. The more he tries to “flap his wings” in front of his superior, the more he incurs their wrath and compromises his family’s prospects for a better life.
The Larger Lesson
All of us are stupid if we assume our bosses will be razzle-dazzled by our superior displays of intelligence and talent. Our job is not to look good, but TO MAKE OUR BOSS LOOK GOOD. We achieve this with our own self-interest in mind. Of course, if we have no temperament for this kind of butt-kissing, we may want to go into business ourselves.
Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies: “Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.”
Lesson from the Novel
On page 169 it is evident that Yang, the boss, knows that Bin is the “enemy,” but that Bin’s talents can be harnessed by giving him a false promotion. Bin does Yang more good as an enemy than Yang’s alleged friends and allies, people who want Yang’s superior position.
Larger Lesson
Friends often know you better than your enemies and as your friends they are in a better position to exploit your weaknesses. Also, they have a better grasp of your happiness and are more apt to be jealous or envious of your wellbeing and inevitably your friends can become “haters.” Because your friends know your business more than other people, they are in a better position to ruin you, take advantage of you, or short-circuit your best-laid plans.
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions: “Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.”
Lesson in the Novel:
Yang doesn’t let Bin know that the “promotion” is merely a dog biscuit or table scrap designed to distract Bin from his original purpose: to get a bigger apartment for him and his family. Bin’s wife chastises him for losing his focus and getting punked on page 174.
Larger Lesson:
People who keep their poker cards close to their chest usually succeed more than those who are quick to boast of their achievements. The bigger your mouth, the more ammunition you give to your friends and enemies alike. People who know what they can do tend to keep their mouths shut. In contrast, the wannabes tend to do a lot of talking and in doing so they fail to conceal their intentions.
Law 4: Always Say Less Than Necessary: “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 are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”
Lesson from the Novel
Bin’s whole existence is sabotaged by his propensity for being a loose cannon, a compulsive talker and as a result he has a reputation for being a fool, he unnecessarily makes enemies, and he imposes suffering on his wife and family. Sadly, friends and enemies alike perceive Bin to be a crackpot, a lunatic, a dude who’s one burrito short of a combo plate, one toy short of a Happy Meal, etc.
Larger Lesson
Thos who are compelled to say more than necessary often do so from a source of insecurity, the need for public adulation, the constant appetite for their ego to be massaged, coddled, and polished in order for them to feel soothed. Sadly, the more these needy souls talk, the more obnoxious and boring they become to others.
Law 5: So Much Depends on Your Reputation—Guard It With Your Life: “Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.”
Lesson from the Novel
Much of Bin’s efforts are focused on denigrating his superiors who are very keen, obsessed even, with preserving their reputation as they know their careers in politics rest on their high esteem. Bin’s problem, however, is that because he has a bad reputation, that of a crackpot, his fusillades against his bosses have less power than they might. The message may be accurate but the messenger is tainted. Both the message and the messenger must be of equal esteem.
Larger Lesson
Even the innocent suffer when their reputations are sullied because your reputation is like a fine piece of china. Once the plate breaks and fractures into several shards and pieces, it is impossible to put back to its original pristine condition. This is why politicians are held under a higher standard than most. They must not only avoid corruption. They must avoid even the APPEARANCE OF CORRUPTION. Often we say, “Avoid the appearance of impropriety.”
Law 6: Court Attention at All Cost: Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.
Lesson from the Novel
Whatever Bin’s faults, we cannot accuse him of being bland, of being one of the “timid masses.” Bin does indeed court attention. The problem in his case is that he courts the wrong attention. He is conspicuous in the wrong way because he is a loose cannon. Having a bad reputation, he cannot sell himself, and therefore he cannot sell his ideas, he cannot be persuasive, and he cannot achieve his desired ends.
Larger Lesson
No matter how talented you are, you have to be able to market yourself. If you cannot sell your talents by showing that you transcend the “bland and timid masses,” you are less likely to achieve success. Talent is like a well-conditioned body. Marketing is the clothing. You can’t have one or the other. You have to have both, the chiseled body and the exquisite clothing. If you’re lacking in personality but have lots of talent, you should marry someone with a vivacious, extroverted personality so that he or she can complement and showcase your talents. For example, my babies’ pediatrician is quiet and soft-spoken, but his wife, who works in the office, is very gregarious and serves the perfect complement to her husband’s career.
Law 8: Make Other People Come to You—Use Bait If Necessary: “When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains—then attack. You hold the cards.”
Lesson from the Novel
On page 169, Yang “promotes” Bin and says to Bin’s immediate bosses, “This is the only way to appease him now. Besides, I want to keep him and use him as our man, to keep him in our pond. But I’ll have to punish you two in appearance. You’ll be criticized in the internal bulletin. Don’t be upset. Next year, I promise, you each will get a raise.”
Larger Lesson
False appeasement with your enemies quiets them down and puts them into a slumber. A woman breaks up with her boyfriend who used to go out with her friend. She tells her friend that she broke up with the young man out of respect to her friend, but in reality she was going to break up with the man, who proved to be a jerk anyway. So in this way, she breaks up the jerk and earns the respect from her friend with false appeasement.
Law 10: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky: You can die from someone else’s misery—emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
Lesson from the Novel
Sadly, Bin’s wife Meilan has married the wrong man, a nincompoop hell-bent on pursuing his own stubborn aims, even when those goals thwart the best interests of his family. Bin’s rage is an “infection” that harbors bad luck. Perhaps Meilan pitied Bin before she married him and thought she could help him, but now we see that she is helpless in the presence of Bin’s obsessions and rage-fueled compulsions, which sabotage the family’s plans.
Larger Lesson
The common wisdom tells us to be compassionate toward the unfortunate, but there is a character type who is habitually “unfortunate” because of his character defects: excessive self-pity, stupid spending habits, temper tantrums, etc., and these defects pull him down into the cesspool and if we, under a sense of obligation, befriend these unfortunate souls, we get pulled down into the cesspool of misery with them.
Law 12: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim: “One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift—a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose.”
Lesson from the Novel
Once again we can look at Yang’s selective generosity with both Bin and his subordinates both of whom he manipulates masterfully.
Larger Lesson
If you are a boss, it is in your interest to appease your subordinates with selective generosity. You must build their morale so that they WANT do work hard for you. If you emphasize that you are the boss and have power over them, they will hate you and their hatred will compromise the quality of work they do for you.
Law 13: When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to Their Mercy Or Gratitude
Lesson from the Novel
Of course, Yang does not ask Bin for a favor. Rather, he presents Bin’s job change as something in Bin’s self-interest and in the process he enjoys new control of the little rage monster.
Larger Lesson
You can always encourage others to help you when you frame it so that it seems like they are helping themselves as well. Persuasion always works better than coercion in the long-run. For examples, the worst schools in America use force of law to keep students in order. The best ones dangle the carrot of getting into elite colleges.
Law 32: Play to People’s Fantasies: “The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like the oases in the desert.: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into fantasies of the masses.”
Lesson from the Novel
Yang knows he has nothing to offer Bin. Bin is fated to languish in squalor, writhing “in the pond,” a tiny city that the government disdains and as such will never spend much resources on. However, Yang sells Bin the fantasy of high esteem by offering him a new position as he says to the little man: “To your glorious future.” See page 171. The fantasy of a glorious future assuages Bin’s anger and makes him Yang’s pawn.
Larger Lesson
No one wants to know the truth of life. We want a fantasy. That’s why many people distract themselves watching entertainment gossip, text-messaging each other about mindless nonsense, etc. A boss or superior knows the psychology of his subordinates and feeds them what they want, that life is “glorious,” only if they will cooperate with the boss’ plans.
Part Two. Review of the Anti-Hero
One. He possesses an exaggerated view of himself, which contradicts others' perception of him.
Two. His obnoxious traits test our sympathy and patience.
Three. He embodies the rejection of traditional values and the status quo.
Four. He is often a misfit, a loner, a malcontent.
Five. He is sometimes well intentioned but compelled by irrational, misguided forces.
Six. He has remarkable insight into others but is painfully blind to his own egregious shortcomings.
Seven. He is often the victim of his own solipsism (self-centered egotism).
Eight. His self-serving obsessions often hurt the people he presumably loves.
Nine. He is not constrained by social norms and is apt to issue vituperations (long-winded tirades) in the most awkward settings.
Ten. For the anti-hero, problems are not his problem. It is his OVERREACTION to his problems that are his problem. Yes, he overreacts to everything and as such he digs himself into a hole.
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