A Warning From The Self Proclaimed ‘New Machiavelli’
‘BM: It is extraordinary – do you have any idea how that could have happened? I mean it seems an extraordinary story.LMc: It is an extraordinary story and probably more of it will slowly trickle out, over the years, I’ve no doubt. We’ll find things out. People will say things.BM: But you don’t have any idea at this point of time?LMc: Well I have my own ideas, but I’m not about to sort of air them because I strongly feel people ought to be damn sure about something before they air it.
Another useful ploy is the false accusation.
First, create a situation where you are wrongly accused.
Then, at a convenient moment, arrange for the false accusation to be shown to be false beyond all doubt. Those who have made accusations against both the company and its management become discredited. Further accusations will then be treated with great suspicion. Always remember that people’s memories are very frail, remembering only both the high spots and the lows of a person’s career, and then seldom remembering accurately. People believe in the facts that it suits them to believe.
People find it easy to believe the facts that are offered to them, if they want to believe them, and easy to disbelieve those facts, if they do not want to believe them. Even in the highest levels of business, these apparent facts are seldom checked or investigated in any depth.The New Machiavelli, P176, Alistair McAlpine