Win Bigly, thoughts

I just finished reading Scott Adams new book, Win Bigly.

I'm a huge fan. I think he shined brightest during Sam Harris podcast episode Triggered. He's a clear thinker whose teachings and insights are incredibly valuable. In How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big, Adams instructs on lifestyle habits that lead to success, however you define it. In Win Bigly, the focus shifts from how to change yourself, to how to change, or persuade, others.

He does some clever things to make his point, the most obvious of which is highlighting his success in accurately predicting the win of President Trump in last year's election. As far as I know, Scott was one of the loudest voices predicting Trump's win, and he did so based on his observation and belief that Trump is an expert persuader. Perhaps that's understating his perspective. Adams believes that Trump has "weapons grade" persuasive abilities, and from my vantage point, this is irrefutable. Whether one likes our President or despises him, his ability to manipulate perception, control the narrative, and use language that helps him achieve his goals is profound.

The book--it's somewhat long and repetitive, and Adams uses his background as a hypnotist and accurate prediction of the election results to establish himself as an authority on persuasion. I'm not sure he is that. I'm not sure even he thinks he is that. Instead, he's a really smart guy that studies persuasion much in the same way I did--by reading books on the subject. And in this regard, he, and I, and millions of psychology and business school students share a common theme--that we've studied the work of Robert Cialdini. In fact, I've written on Cialdini myself to illustrate how weapons of influence are utilized by me in my work as a magician.

As a manual goes, I don't think that readers will come away empowered with a new set of skills. His previous book, about changing ones habits, did a better job at that.  Moreover, hearing him constantly refer to himself as an expert made me feel that 1. the repition was part of his pursuasive method (repition is pursuasion...hence product placement!), and 2. that the book was released somewhat quickly to capitilize on his 'hotness' right now. Still, it could have been pared down and edited a bit for my taste.

Overall--an entertaining and insightful read. If you do not understand his main point, that each of us can look back at the past with a different filter that makes sense, then you still live in a world where you think facts matter. More on that in my next post!