Overview of Law 4: Always Say Less Than Necessary
Principles of Law 4
The less you say, the more intimidating and powerful you are. Always say less than necessary. When you do speak, make it vague and ambiguous, leaving the meaning to others to interpret. They’ll be frustrated and obsessed with trying to figure you out.
Refection law 4 always say less than necessary in my work
I found that it is quite interesting to use this law in my work. From my observations, there had few examples of colleagues and leaders to make mistakes including myself.
1, Colleagues K always talked so much and had long wailed speech and detailed things. I didn’t know how is another people. But I got so bored with her long wailed talking. She can use few sentences to sum up and she drag on so long.
2, Leader B and she likes open book, and you just asked her questions and even not asked questions and she had already told you everything. All things are all about herself and her private life. She never understood that she created no imagination for subordinate know her. We knew who she is and her personality and even her sexual preference. As leader, you need create some boundaries between your professional work and privacy. Unfortunately, she never learnt the rules yet.
3, Leader S is much better and she listen a lot and speak with calmly voice and keep a lot of things privacy. I can see that she is good leader. When she wrote down report and I never suggested her that she can just write down dot point. She will look more powerful than friendly.
4, Leader J is my favorite and she never talked much, and she dislike long wailed speech and she always use most short answers to organize all things. But maybe I am just subordinate, and I used to misunderstand as her friends. I found that she did chat a lot with her team players. I am in another team, and I did find that it is best for me to listen than talk.
5, Old team leader is my less favorite. But she uses this law 4 perfectly. She just kept quiet and never speak out her views unless you asked her. Then she will write down a lot of private messages and gave you big shock when it was report at the end of year. I didn’t like her sly and cunning, manipulated characters at all. But this is best strategy which she uses a lot.
6, One of young power-hungry colleague used to talk a lot about her hair, her dog and her boyfriend…… She just like open book. But I knew that there are insecurity and personal grudge kept a lot of disagreement with me in the past.
My strategies and use law 4 in work
1, When you always say less than necessary, you come across as powerful, intimidating, and mysterious. Keep these principles in mind:
When you’re silent, you make other people uncomfortable. Because they dislike uncertainty, people want to know what you’re thinking. When you control your words, they can’t figure out what you mean or intend.
Short answers and silence make people feel defensive. They quickly try to fill the silence, and in the process reveal motivations and weaknesses — information you can use. Later they’ll obsess over every word you said and its potential implications. The inordinate attention they give to your brief comments adds to your power.
Real example of talking less in my work—-really understand people.
Give example recently, when one colleague told me some privacy about another people, I just listen and she need keep talking to fill in silence and then she need fill more things in silence.
Then she began to talk about her coming holiday and I just asked her questions and she kept talking about all her holiday plan in next year.
Another time, she even talked more detailed about her holiday which related with her first love and he divorced children and now lived in England. She still had more feeling with him…….
Few my mistakes about talk too much.
1, Give people suggestions when they didn’t ask for.
My mum used to give me some suggestions’ about workplace bully and some suggestions are right. But some are not. She used to suggest me to “show off” some extent my knowledge towards to property investing and renovation. Let people know that I have rich experience. But I found that it is another mistake which I need avoid in future.
When people didn’t ask my suggestions an I just offered suggestions regarding to buy or sell……. I thought that it is quite annoyed for listener. One time, I tried to suggest one of leader to buy house in 2023 from conversation and then I found that she kept quiet and conversation was end.
2, Only talk when it is necessary and not add further information.
One time, when I need give one bunch of flowers to one of the leaders. They asked everyone to contribute food, I joked that I am very bad cooker, and I can’t contribute food. They all love my jokes and then I continued to say that J is quite fussy about food because she only ate certain food. One time, I bought sushi and just kept for a while, and she didn’t like it. It was very traditional example to talk too much. Then one of center manager is good friend’s J and began to defend for her.
3, Never talk about negative things regarding to another colleagues. Because bad things will eventually go to their ear. You will set up more enemies without known. The best wisdom is happy and playful when you are stay with fools.
In most instances, the less you say, the more important and profound it seems, and the more mysterious you are.
Example about law 4 in Robert Green’s book
This example from Robert Green book, Andy Warhol found that he had more power when he said little and kept his comments vague and ambiguous. Sometimes he made purposely meaningless comments. Interviewers struggled to interpret what he meant, believing it was profound. He learned from fellow artist Marcel Duchamp that the less he said about his work, the more people talked about it and the more desirable it became.
Besides creating an impression of great import, saying little avoids the risk of saying something foolish, which can be costly. Forinstance, in the early 1800s, a Russian rebel named Ryleyev talked too much and paid for it with his life. Nicholas I had sentenced him to death, but at the moment he was being hanged the rope broke. Believing he’d be pardoned, as usually happened in such cases, he yelled to the crowd that Russia couldn’t get anything right, even rope. Instead of pardoning him, Nicholas responded, “Let’s prove the contrary,” and Ryleyev was hanged the next day with a rope that held. Ryleyev hadn’t learned to always say less than necessary.
Examples from Robert Green’s book Law 4
Here’s an example of how to apply Law 4 of the 48 Laws of Power. King Louis XIV used brevity and silence to maintain power. He knew the value of always saying less than necessary.
When his underlings had an issue to present to him, they first debated it among themselves and then chose two ministers or nobles to make the case before him, with one person speaking for each side. Louis XIV listened in silence.
The silence was an act to keep everyone off balance. No one knew where he stood and they couldn’t anticipate how he’d react. Nor could anyone deceive him by saying what he wanted to hear, because nobody knew what that was. In their nervousness people tended to ramble, revealing information Louis could later use against them.
At the end of each presentation, the king said merely, “I shall see.” He didn’t discuss the issue with anyone, or even announce a decision. People had to wait to see the results of his decisions. His silence kept everyone around him in fear and under his control. Louis XIV would always say less than necessary.
By contrast, Coriolanus, a military hero of ancient Rome, couldn’t shut up. After winning many battles, he ran for political office. He impressed people at his rallies by displaying his battle scars, and they paid little attention to his words. His election seemed assured until election day when he held a huge rally in the forum, bragging about himself and claiming victory before the vote. People didn’t like that and he lost the election. Coriolanus did not always say less than necessary, and he paid for it.
Exceptions to Law 4 and need remember
Are there any exceptions to 48 Laws of Power Law 4: Always say less than necessary? There are times when silence isn’t the best course:
It can make people suspicious, and in the case of your superiors, it can make them feel insecure. An ambiguous comment can be misinterpreted to your detriment.
Sometimes it’s smarter to play the court jester, and make yourself seem foolish and harmless despite being smarter than the king. No one suspects you of having an agenda.
You may want to use words as a smokescreen to hide your intentions. You can distract your target by talking, and make them less suspicious of you.
One of biggest lesson is speak out boldly when you are attacked by bullies. Keep quiet as victim and it will made condition worse.
