There have been a number of assertiveness books written in recent years. These have ranged from " How to feel good about yourself ", " How to feel good about feeling good about yourself ", " How to feel good about feeling good about feeling good about yourself ", to " How to say NO ", " How to get others to say YES ". What has been lacking is an authoritive article on the primary goal, WINNING!
With this article, you should be able to:
In all cases, it must be a matter of your word, verses another. No one expects the bluff, and a true winning player knows how to do this well. This is usually best done by raising the stakes, reputations, etc., until the person you are arguing with retreats. It helps to add a personal touch by adding intimidation, and by showing the person you are arguing with that the only thing he is really accomplishing is getting on your bad side, which is a BAD thing to do. By no means, should you try to understand what that person is saying, for that will only distract you from your final objective, WINNING.
Some particularly good lines are as follows:
?Are you calling me a liar? This can add your personal touch. Let it be known that this affair is being taken personally, after all, reputations are at stake.
Can we skip by that for a second? What you really mean is permanently. This is a particularly good distractive device.
Everyone else agrees that... If they already don't, they will.
... and that's final. Because YOU say so.
Select your victim. Interogate him until there are questions that he cannot answer. There is your evidence. Carry through immediate orders before anyone has the chance to do any research. After that, too late, too bad.
Some useful lines:
Where did you get THESE numbers? All variables WILL be controllable. YOU say so.
You trusted that? In any good organization, all it takes is one fuckup. Make sure that point is EMPHASIZED.
Since day zero... Any change is met with high scepticism, and punished severely when it doesn't work immediately. You need to be able to point your finger at something when they ask about the quarterly returns.
Your organization has to be steep enough so that you do not have to deal with any "real" information. It is crucial that you be able to disconcern yourself with the facts, and this is best accomplished by working with those people who disconcern themselves from the facts.
Some good lines:
Make it work! Forget reality, anyone who can't carry out your orders faithfully is incompetent.
That's how we've always done it. Make sure they know that your methods are "Time Proven".
What is the Bottom line? Force them to commit themselves to a single conclusion.
These are only some of the techniques. I will be writing a book called, "How to use subversive techniques to get other people to use subversive techniques".
Author: John Williams
