The 48 Laws of Power is written like a “how to” book, but should not be read as such. If read that way, it’s a terrible book. Not only does it encourage you to be an awful person, it doesn’t give much guidance on how to apply the laws in practice.
Click here for my detailed summary of The 48 Laws of Power
Buried in the book is a warning against trying to apply the laws directly:
There is a kind of stubborn stupidity that recurs throughout history, and is a strong impediment to power: The superstitious belief that if the person before you succeeded by doing A, B, and C, you can re-create their success by doing the same thing. This cookie-cutter approach will seduce the uncreative, for it is easy, and appeals to their timidity and their laziness. But circumstances will never repeat themselves exactly.
Power is an art, not a science. The so-called “laws” in this book are not really laws – they are very situational. People have criticised the laws for being contradictory and that is certainly true. But how could it be otherwise? Different rules apply in different situations. Some tactics that work when you have power don’t apply when you are weak, and the inverse is also true. In the Reversal section of each chapter, Greene himself explains how most laws could backfire.
The book is relatively light on details of how and when you’re exactly meant to implement any of these laws. With 48 laws to cover in a 480-page book, that’s understandable. The examples, while entertaining, don’t help much as many are historical examples of rulers and military generals in situations that aren’t relevant to the vast majority of people. And I’m sure the examples have been grossly oversimplified, with many more factors contributing to a person’s rise or fall from power than indicated in the book (causality is hard, yo).
Many of the laws sound plausible, but a lot of them are just common sense. It’s really about paying attention and acting rationally. Chris Voss makes a similar point regarding negotiation. Being a good negotiator involves paying attention, listening carefully, and not being impulsive. The same can be said of power.
The final chapter states this more clearly than anywhere else:
Finally, learning to adapt to each new circumstance means seeing events through your own eyes, and often ignoring the advice that people constantly peddle your way. It means that ultimately you must throw out the laws that others preach, and the books they write to tell you what to do, and the sage advice of the elder. ‘The laws that govern circumstances are abolished by new circumstances,’ Napoleon wrote, which means that it is up to you to gauge each new situation. Rely too much on other people’s ideas and you end up taking a form not of your own making. Too much respect for other people’s wisdom will make you depreciate your own.
So is the The 48 Laws of Power worth reading at all? In my view, yes. It serves as a useful prompt to get you to think more about how power works. As Greene writes:
A thorough reading of the book will inspire thinking and reevaluation long after you finish it.
It certainly has prompted me to think a lot about power and how I see some of the laws at play in my own life and the lives of those around me. A more accurate title of this book may have been 48 Observations on the Dynamics of Power Which You Should Think About Some More. But that may not have sold as many copies.
If you are after a more practical, “how to” book about gaining power, I’d recommend Jeffrey Pfeffer’s Power: Why Some People Have It — and Others Don’t. Pfeffer is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford, and the book focuses on how to gain power within the workplace.
Get The 48 Laws of Power here: Amazon | Kobo or Jeffrey Pfeffer’s book here: Amazon | Kobo. These are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through these links. I’d be grateful if you considered supporting the site in this way! 🙂
Have you tried to apply The 48 Laws of Power? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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