Jeffrey Pfeffer: belief

Transcript context

…Okay, great. Let's talk about rule number two, which is break the rules. So basically again, these powers are ways to grow power, and you're saying that if you break the rules, you get more power. Talk about why that's the case, what that looks like. Well, for many reasons, number one, when you break the rules, you stand out. You become memorable when you do something that's unexpected. And being memorable is of course important, as we've already discussed. That's number one. Number two, the rules were made mostly by the people who are favored by the rules in place. So if we were talking about business strategy, we would talk about a word that is probably now overused. We would talk about being a disruptor. That you would disrupt an industry. And how do you disrupt an industry? By doing something that is different from the other industry incumbents. In Southwest Airlines, you don't do hub and spoke. At Amazon, you provide an incredible level of customer service. Whole Foods, you don't optimize on the cost of the stuff in your store, but you optimize on fitting local taste, whatever. You would be a disruptor, you would do things that are different. The same principle holds for you, that if you are going to be successful, you have to do what number one, plays to your strengths, to use the title of a Gallup book. Number two, you have to do things again that cause you to stand out, and you have to do things that basically will make you more successful. One of the conventional wisdoms that people I think adhere to way too much, is don't ask. Don't ask, don't ask for help. You need to show self-sufficiency. So my colleague, Frances Flynn, Frank Flynn, wrote an article with Vanessa Lake entitled, If You Need Help, Just Ask. And it turns out people overestimate how many people they're going to have to ask to get help, and it turns out that asking for help makes people uncomfortable. I was married, if you read the acknowledgments in Seven Rules of Power. For more than 35 years I was married to Kathleen Francis Fowler, who I could send you a picture. She looked literally like a supermodel and I never have been any particularly better looking than I am now. So somebody said to me, how'd you get her to go out with you? And the answer of course is, I asked. I asked, I asked, I asked. No one, well, maybe not no one. But few people are going to go out with you if you don't ask them out. Few people are going to marry you if you don't ask them to marry. Few people are going to do anything if you don't ask. And what is the worst that could happen? If you ask and they say, no, you are no worse off than had you not asked in the first place. If you don't ask, you're not going to get it. If you ask and they say, no, you're not going to get it. Get over your ego, ask. Is there another example that comes to mind of someone breaking the rules say in business, that ended up being really successful as a result, or just someone that is really good at this in business?…

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