Vetinari and Carnegie

Continuing this series on influence and power dynamics, I consider Pratchett’s Vetinari and imagine his critique of Carnegie’s “How to…”, as he sets out to influence people - without winning unwanted friends.

1. Do not try to be liked; try to be necessary
For Carnegie, making the other person feel important is paramount, but Vetinari is more concerned that his acquaintances understand the consequence of his absence. Friendliness is pleasant, but dependence is reliable. If your removal would cause inconvenience your position will be tolerated; if your removal would cause chaos then your position is protected. Put yourself on a firm footing.

2. Listen longer than is comfortable
Both agree that listening is important, but for Vetinari silence should do most of the work. People rush to fill silence and end up revealing their motives, fears, alliances and pressure points. The person who speaks the least generally learns the most, and knowledge is power.

3. Praise sincerely but sparingly
Carnegie recommends conveying praise and appreciation sincerely and frequently. Vetinari would agree that it should be sincere but object to frequent. When giving approval becomes common then something like currency inflation occurs; keeping it a rarified treat makes it investment-grade.

4. Encourage self-interest
Carnegie wants readers to appeal to the others’ self-interest, acknowledging the limitations of human nature. Vetinari would go one step further: redefine others’ interests so they align with your own. Adjust the incentives at play until the ‘correct’ decision appears to be the obvious choice, because influence is most stable when it feels voluntary.

5. Encourage uncertainty
By revealing only what is necessary, by implying you know more, and by letting others wonder how much more, you can increase your influence. While open aggression invites coalitions and defensive actions among your adversaries, uncertainty is a halting and therefore stabilising force that you can use to your advantage.

6. Control yourself before others
Carnegie teaches emotional intelligence and self-awareness. Vetinari would be more blunt: if you cannot govern yourself, you’re not fit to govern anything or anyone else. Anger gives away leverage; visible desperation signals weakness; excitement signals attachment. Calm signals control.

7. Allow minor chaos to prevent major chaos
Carnegie advocates avoiding arguments but Vetinari would permit small conflicts to surface. Suppression leads to explosion. Instead, let rivals compete in contained arenas, let tensions vent and let factions believe they are winning something. Order should not be confused with the absence of noise.

8. Reward competence not loyalty
Carnegie prioritises rapport, on the basis that this form of potentiality might become valuable; Vetinari prioritises outcomes in and of themselves. Vetinari would argue that loyal incompetence is dangerous, whereas competent self-interest can be managed (see point 4 above). This, of course, is where they differ on “winning friends”. Vetinari surrounds himself, not with friends, but with people who are excellent at what they do and whose ambitions are predictable.

9. Think in systems
Carnegie focuses on one-to-one interaction and appears to believe in the old mantra ‘look after the pennies and the pounds (dollars) look after themself’. Vetinari thinks in ecosystems. If you influence one person you gain compliance; if you influence incentives you gain stability. He does not “win friends”, he architects conditions under which cooperation is the rational choice.

10. Make your influence structural
Vetinari does not need to exert effort in any particular instance of influence-actualisation because he’s done the preparatory work so it sits ready in potentiality. His energies are put into ensuring that information flows through him, disputes are resolved by him and competing interests are balanced against him. Structural influence survives mood swings (that is, moods of people, of organisations, of countries…)

In short, Vetinari would challenge Carnegie’s assertion that influence is about warmth and social skill, and suggest it is instead about strategic patience, disciplined restraint and engineered incentives. He would never call his advice “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, he might call it “On the Gentle Management of Human Beings”.