Chapter 27
Acting Dumb Is Smart
To Power Negotiators, smart is dumb and dumb is smart. When you are negotiating, you’re better off acting as if you know less than everybody else does, not more. The dumber you act, the better off you are, unless your I.Q. sinks to a point where you lack any credibility.
There is a good reason for this. With a few rare exceptions, human beings tend to help people that they see as less intelligent or informed, rather than taking advantage of them. Of course, there are a few ruthless people out there who will try to take advantage of weak people, but most people want to compete with people they see as brighter, and help people they see as less bright. The reason for acting dumb is that it diffuses the competitive ...
Get Secrets of Power Negotiating, 15th Anniversary Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
