I guess I shouldn't be surprised that such a popular book is so loaded with conventional wisdom and random assumptions presented as quasi-scientific. But the feel of the writing was so juvenile and repetitive that I can't recommend this book to anyone. One of the main objectives of the books is said to be preparing the average person against compliance tacticians but I have a feeling that it's the latter who'll use the book more. Perhaps he's just as much of a chump when it comes to ideas as he says he is when it comes to complying with the requests of other people.

This ‘shortcut’ of ours is exploited, almost everyday by people who are trying to sell us something. A leader, instead of simply using a poll, should communicate to the team that each member's input will be a factor into the equation of a decision, although might not be the deciding factor. Interesting (but slightly saddening) how our tendencies to seek mental shortcuts in decision-making are consistently exploited by marketeers. Example: introverted pre-schoolers who saw introverted kids become social in a movie were more inclined to go play. Even with modern psychology the average person understands so very little about themselves, their drives, why they do what they do, why they like what they like, that they are easily manipulated and exploited.

It was much easier for me to enjoy Cialdini's inflection and likable Midwestern accent once I switched to 1. It's like listening to an elderly relative tell a story where the voice in your head is saying "just get on with it! I had this book for a while but I kept avoiding it, thinking it is another of those badly written self-help books.

Commitment and Consistency - If people agree to make a commitment toward a goal or idea, they are more likely to honor that commitment. Many of the strategies outlined in this book are tactics of psychological manipulation and therefore beneficial only for immediate, short term, impulsive human response.he identified three agents who apply these principles with various degree of success, a bungler, a smuggler, and a sleuth; this was an alternative approach to give application tips than, say, using to-do and not-to-do lists. I found myself listening to his strange, slow, over-articulating narration rather than listening to the content. Ethopia had been reciprocating for the diplomatic support Mexico provided when Italy invaded Ethopia in 1937.