The 48 Laws Of Power

would

suddenly

start

treating

himwiththeutmostdisdain.

Confused,

the

man

might

leavethe

court,

whenthedukewould

suddenly

recallhimand

start

treating

him

well

again.Doubly

confused,

thecourtierwouldwonder

whetherhis

assumption

thathewouldbe

promoted

hadbecome

obvious,

and

offensive,

tothe

duke,

andwouldstarttobehaveas

if

heno

longer

ex-

pected

suchhonor.Thedukewouldrebukehimforhislackofambition

andwouldsendhim

away.

The

secretof

dealing

with

Filippo

was

simple:

Donot

presume

to

knowwhat

hewants.

Donot

try

to

guess

whatwill

please

him.

Never

inject

your

will;

just

surrendertohiswill.Thenwaittoseewhat

happens.

Amidst

theconfusionand

uncertainty

he

created,

thedukeruled

supreme,

unchal-

lenged

andat

peace.

Unpredictability

ismostoftenthetacticofthe

master,

buttheunder-

dog

too

canuseitto

great

effect.

If

you

find

yourself

outnumbered

orcor-

nered,

throwin

a

seriesof

unpredictable

moves.Yourenemieswillbeso

confusedthat

they

will

pull

backormakeatacticalblunder.

Inthe

spring

of

1862,

during

the American Civil

War,

General

Stonewall

Jackson

andaforceof

4,600

Confederatesoldiersweretorment»

ing

the

larger

Unionforcesinthe

Shenandoah

Valley.

Meanwhile,

notfar

away,

General

George

Brinton

McClellan,

heading

a

forceof

90,000

Union

soldiers,

was

marching

southfrom

Washington,

D.C.,

to

laysiege

to

Richmond,

Virginia,

theConfederate

capital,

Astheweeksofthecam-

paign

went

by,Jacksonrepeatedly

ledhissoldiersoutoftheShenandoah

Valley,

then

backtoit.

Hismovementsmadeno

sense.

Washe

preparing

to

help

defend

Richmond?Washe

marching

on

Washington,

nowthatMcClellan’sab-

sencehadleftit

unprotected?

Wasbe

heading

northtowreakhavoc

up

there?

Why

washissmallforce

moving

incircles?

Jacksorfsinexplicable

moves madethe

Union

generals delay

the

marchonRichmond

as

they

waitedto

figure

out

whathe

was

up

to.Mean-

while,

theSouthwasableto

pour

reinforcementsintothetown.Abattle

thatcouldhavecrushedthe

Confederacy

turnedintoastalemate.

Jackson

usedthistactictimeand

again

when

facingnumericallysuperior

forces.

“Alwaysmystify,

mislead,

and

surprise

the

enemy,

if

possible,”

he

said,

“..

.suchtacticswillwin

every

timeandasmall

armymay

thus

destroy

a

large

ones”

Thislaw

applies

not

only

towarbutto

everyday

situations.

People

are

alwaystrying

toreadthemotivesbehind

your

actionsandtouse

yourpre«

dictabilityagainstyou.

Throwinat

completelyinexplicable

moveand

you

put

themonthedefensive.Because

they

donotunderstand

you,they

are

unnerved,

andinsuchastate

you

can

easily

intimidatethem.

PabloPicassoonce

remarked,

“Thebestcalculationistheabsenceof

calculation.Once

you

haveattainedacertainlevelof

recognition,

others

generallyfigure

thatwhen

you

do

something,

it’sforan

intelligent

reason.

Soit’s

really

foolishto

plot

out

your

movements

too

carefully

inadvance.

You’rebetteroff

actingcapriciously.”

Fora

while,

PicassoworkedwiththeaitdealerPaul

Rosenberg.

Atfirst

LAW

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