The 48 Laws Of Power

REVERSAL

Sometimes

predictability

canworkin

your

favor:

Bycreating

a

pattern

for

people

tobefamiliarandcomfortable

with,

you

canlullthemto

sleep.

They

have

preparedeverythingaccording

totheir

preconceived

notions

about
you.

Youcan

use

this

in

several

ways:

First,

itsets

up

asmoke

screen,

acomfortablefrontbehindwhich
you

can

carry

on

deceptive

actions.Sec

ond,
itallows
you

onrareoccasionstodo

something

completely

against

the
pattern,

unsettling

youropponent

so

deeply

hewillfalltothe

ground

without

beingpushed.

In 1974 MuhammadAliand

George

Foremanwerescheduledto

fight

fortheworld

heavyweightboxingchampionship.Everyone

knewwhat

would

happen:BigGeorge

Foremanwould

try

tolandaknockout

punch

whileAliwoulddancearound
him,
wearing

himout.ThatwasAli’s

way

of

fighting,

his

pattern,

andhehadnot

changed

itinmorethanten

years.

But

in
thiscase
it
seemed
to

give

Foremanthe

advantage:

He

had

a

devastating

punch,

and

ifhe

waited,

soonerorlater

Ali

wouldhavetocome

tohim.

Ali,
themaster

strategist,

hadother

plans:

In

press

conferencesbeforethe

bigfight,

hesaidhewas

going

to

change

his

style

and

punch

itoutwith

Foreman.No

one,

leastofall

Foreman,

believedthisforasecond.That

plan

wouldbesuicideonAli’s

part;

hewas

playing

the

comedian,

asusual.

Then,

beforethe

fight,

Ali’strainerloosenedthe

ropes

aroundthe

ring,

something

atrainerwoulddoifhisboxerwere

intending

to

slug

it

out.But

noonebelievedthis

play;

ithadtobea

setup.

To

everyone’s

amazement,

Ali

did

exactly

what

hehadsaid

hewould

do.AsForemanwaitedforhimtodance

around,

Aliwent

rightup

tohim

and

slugged

itout.He

completelyupset

his

opponent’sstrategy.

At

a

loss,

Foremanended
upwearing

himself

out,

not

bychasing

Alibut

by

throw-

ing

puncheswildly,

and

taking

moreandmore

counterpunches.Finally,

Alilandedadramatic
right

crossthatknockedoutForeman.Thehabitof

assuming

thata

person’s

behaviorwillfitits

previouspatterns

isso

strong

thatnotevenAli’sannouncementofa

strategychange

was

enough

to

upset

it.Foremanwalkedintoa

trap-«thetrap

hehadbeentoldto

expect.

A

warning: Unpredictability

canwork

againstyou

sometimes,

es

pecially

if

you

areinasubordinate

position.

Therearetimeswhenitisbet

tertolet

people

feelcomfortableandsettledaround

you

thantodisturb

thern.Toomuch

unpredictability

willbe

seenasa

sign

of

indecisiveness,

or

evenofsomemoreserious

psychicproblem.

Rattemsare

powerful,

and

you

can

terrifypeoplebydisrupting

them.Such

power

should

only

be

used

judiciously.

LAWI7 129