Nationality--Scotch.
Occupation--Teacher.
Date of Birth--March 19, 1891.
Color--Eyes, medium; hair, skin and beard, slightly brunette.
Form--Forehead, eyes, mouth and chin, plane; nose, strongly convex.
Height--5 ft. 9 1/2 in.
Weight--145 lbs.
Build--Square-shouldered, bony and muscular; lacking somewhat in
adipose.
Consistency of Flesh--Hard-elastic.
Flexibility of Joints--Rigid-elastic.
Long trunk, short legs.
Nose section, of face predominates, chin a close second, mouth third.
High, wide, long, medium-square head.
Middle division of cranium predominates, top second, base third.
Crown section of cranium largest; front section, second; back section,
third; temporal, fourth.
Square forehead, medium wide, more prominent at the brows than above.
Expression somewhat grim.
Health good; body, clothes, hands and mouth clean and in good condition.
Hands square.
Fingers medium long, with square tips, well-rounded, sensitive
pads and short nails.
Thumbs long and set low on hand.
The information as to the other four subjects was similar in character.
One of these charts was then sent to Mr. G.C. B----, another to Mr.
C.F.R----, another to Miss E.W.R----, another to Mrs. A.W----, and the
fifth to Miss M.O.P----, students of this science--two of them having
studied it less than one year. Each analyst was asked to make his analysis
according to a definite plan, so that the results could be definitely
compared. These results are shown in the table on pages 356 and 357.
Herein is the true answer to the serious question with which we opened
this chapter. Whether or not reliable analyses can be made by the
observation of physical characteristics is no longer debatable.
Such analyses _are being made_.
[Transcribers Note: Key to Analyst list of Chart is as follows:
1-Practical or Impractical 2-Mild or Aggressive
3-Quick or Slow 4-Active or Inactive
5-Responsive or Indifferent 6-Variable or Constant
7-Energetic or Lazy 8-Dependable or Irresponsible
9-Speculative or Conservative 10-Ambitious or Unambitious
11-Social or Unsocial 12-Honest or Dishonest
13-Skillful or Awkward 14-General or Detail
15-Determined or Indecisive 16-Courageous or Fearful
17-Mechanical 18-Professional
19-Commercial 20-Artistic
Ticks replaced with / symbol]
ANALYSING CHARACTER
Subject Number One
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Analyst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Vocation
First Second Third
Choice Choice Choice
G.C.B. I M S A R C E D C A U H S D I F / Clerical Sell.
C.F.R. I M S A I V E D C U U H A G I F / Clerical Research Sell.
A.W. I A S A R C E D C A U H S D I F / / Sec. Law Sell.
M.O.P. P M S A R C E D C A U H S D D F / / / Office Exec. Sec.
E.W.R. I M Q A R C E D C A U H A D I F / / Educ. Lit Sec.
Record I M S A R C E D C A U H S D I F / / Purch. Bank Sec.
Subject Number Two
G.C.B. I A Q A R C E D C A S H S D D C / Sell. Merch. Pol.
C.F.R. P A Q A I C E D C A U H S D D C / Ins. Ace. Stat.
A.W. P A S A R C L D C A U H S D D C / / Phys. Sell. Clerk
M.O.P. P A Q A R C E D S A S H S D D C / / Sell. Pol. Purch.
E.W.R. P A Q A R C E D C A S H A D D C / / Sell. Adm. Pol.
Record P A Q A R V E D S A S H S D D C / / / Adv. Sell. Jour.
Subject Number Three
G.C.B. I M Q A R C E D C A U H S G D C / Merch. Finan. Sell.
C.F.R. P A Q A R V E I S A S D S D D F / Comm. Prom. Adv.
A.W. P A Q A R V E D S A U H S G D C / / Org. Sell. Const.
M.O.P. P M Q I R C E D C C S H S D D C / / / Educ. Sell. Exec.
E.W.R. P A Q A R V E I S A U H S D D C / / / Jour. Adv. Sell.
Record P A Q A R V E D S A U H S D D F / / / Res. Eng. Sell.
Subject Number Four
G.C.B. I A Q A I C E D C A S H S G D C / Educ. Pers. Serv. Sell.
C.F.R. P A S A I C E D C A U H S D D C / / Eng. Educ. Research
A.W. P A S A R V E D C A U H S D D F / / Educ. Jour. Soc.Ser.
M.O.P. P M Q A R C E D C A S H S D D C / / Educ. Pol. Sell.
E.W.R. P A Q A E C E D C A U H S D D C / Eng. Agr. Mfr.
Record P M S A R C E D C A U H S D D F / / Agr. Educ. Eng.
Subject Number Five
G.C.B. I A Q A R V E D C A S H S D D C / Agr. Soc. Serv. Educ.
C.F.R. P A Q A R C E D S A S H S D D C / Exec. Sell. Educ.
A.W. P A Q A R V E D C A U H S D I C / / Mfr. Org. Sell.
M.O.P. P A Q A R C E D C A S H S D D C / Org. Exec. Res.
E.W.R. P A Q A R V E D S A S H S D D C / / Agr. Mfr. Pol.
Record P A Q A R V E D S A S H S D D C / / Agr. Org. Pol.
Explanation of abbreviations: Sell., selling; Sec., secretarial work;
Exec., executive position; Lit., literature; Purch., purchasing; Merch.,
merchandising; Pol., politics; Ins., insurance; Acc., accountant; Stat.,
statistics; Phys., physician; Adm., administration; Adv., advertising;
Jour., journalism; Finan., financial; Comm., commerce; Prom., promoting;
Org., organizing; Const., construction; Educ., educating; Eng.,
engineering; Pers. Serv., personal service; Soc.Serv., social service;
Agr., agriculture; Mfr., manufacturing.
NOTE--An analysis of the foregoing record shows 82-1/4% of agreement with
the record in regard to the subjects' characteristics. This part of the
work depends upon an application of principles. In checking the four
classifications, Mechanical, Professional, Commercial and Artistic, the
element of individual judgment of the analyst entered into the problem;
yet here we have an agreement with the record amounting to 65-1/2%.
Naturally, choice of exact vocation offers an unusually wide field to the
personal equation, especially when the analyst has no data, as in this
case, in regard to early environment, education, training, residence, and
opportunities. But, even in this case, the students are, in general, in
marked agreement with the records. It is impossible to state this
agreement in percentages, since each was given a first, second, and third
choice, and since some of the vocations suggested are very nearly those
indicated in the record, yet not exactly the same. A study of these three
columns, however, will impress the reader with the accuracy of the
analysts' judgments.
CHAPTER V
IDEAL EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS
The progress of civilization and enlightment is a good deal like that in
the old riddle of the man who had a fox, a goose, and a basket of corn to
carry across the river and could carry only one at a time. If you
remember, he carried the goose across first, leaving the fox with the
corn, since the fox could not eat the corn. Then he went back, leaving the
goose, and got the corn; then, when he returned for the fox, he took the
goose back with him and left it alone on the bank, while he carried the
fox across to keep company with the corn. Then he returned once more and
brought the goose over, completing the transfer.
So Civilization carries forward, for a time, one aspect of life. Then she
drops this and returns to bring up another. This, in turn, she drops again
and goes back once more, and when she goes back she is likely enough to
carry the first advance back with her. In the end, however, she finally
brings up all of the elements and factors in human life.
For the last fifty years we have made great progress in the invention of
machinery, the development of new industries, the organization of great
financial and industrial institutions, and the volume of production in
nearly all lines. But, in the meantime, in order to make this advance,
Civilization has been required to carry back, some hundred of years, the
relationship between employer and employed. Now let us hope she is ready
to go back and bring this important factor up to date.
ANCIENT AND MODERN EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS
In the old feudal days, the employee was a serf, bound to the soil of his
employer. He received a bare living and shared not at all in the gains of
the man whose chattel he was. In the days of transition between ancient
feudalism and modern industrialism, Civilization greatly improved the
relationship between employer and employee. The proprietor and all his men
worked side by side in the same shop, performing the same tasks. Each was
proud of his skill. Each took delight in his work. Each understood the
other. Oftentimes the employee lived under the same roof with his
employer, enjoyed the same recreations, and ate at the same table. The
skilful, competent, shrewd employer gathered around him the best men in
the trade. He profited greatly and his men shared in his prosperity. The
invention of machinery and the great enlargement of industrial units makes
such relationship between employer and employee impossible. Yet, when
employment conditions are improved to match the improvements in machinery
and production, we shall go back to the ancient shop for the fundamental
principles upon which the new and better relationship will be built.
MUTUAL INTERESTS OF EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
Observe carefully what these fundamental principles are. First, men who
love their work and take pride in it; second, mutuality of interests in
that work; third, mutual understanding between employer and employee. By
this we mean an understanding by each of the other's point of view,
personality, ability, motives, intentions, ambitions, and desires. Already
Civilization is groping toward the establishment of a new relation upon
this basis. Scientific methods of employment are being adopted in more and
more of our industrial and commercial plants. These insure the fitness of
the employee for his work and, because of his fitness, his love for it and
pride in it. They also insure a better understanding between employer and
employee, whose relationship to each other is guided and controlled by a
sympathetic and expert corps of men and women especially selected and
trained for just such work. Profit sharing, the bonus system, the premium
system, study clubs and classes, and many other forms of giving an
adequate day's pay for a day's efficient work are all evidences of the
desire on the part of the employers and employees to mutualize their
interests.
It is true that to-day, perhaps, we have reached the very flood-tide of
organization of employees into labor unions and employers into
associations, and that these organizations are frequently antagonistic.
But these are only evidences of our blind groping toward the ideal. These
movements show that we are awake to our needs, that we appreciate the
intolerable nature of present conditions and that we have determined to
better them. It is inevitable, when such an awakening comes, that we shall
eventually learn by our mistakes and direct our effort toward the true
solution of our problem.
IDEAL CONDITIONS DIVERSE AS TO DETAIL
Just what would constitute the details of ideal employment conditions it
is impossible at this time to say. These will have to be worked out
painstakingly, carefully, and with a true appreciation of the fundamental
principles involved, by wise and competent employers and employees. It is
altogether likely that different conditions will be found to be ideal in
different industries and probably in different units of the same
industries. One man will maintain ideal conditions by the virtue of his
own magnetism and forceful personality, tying his men to himself with the
strong bonds of mutual admiration, mutual respect, mutual loyalty, and
mutual love. Another will create ideal conditions principally by the
magnificent exploits of his organization. It is human nature for a man to
like to belong to a winning team, to be proud of his connection with a
championship organization. Still, another institution may maintain ideal
employment conditions by the good judgment, efficiency, and sincere
motives with which it conducts its welfare work. Still another may
approach the ideal by means of profit sharing, bonuses, and other such
emoluments. We have seen and studied organizations in this country and in
Europe which very nearly approached the ideal for each of these reasons.
We have also seen some which took advantage of several or all of these.
THE EMPLOYER'S IDEAL
As time goes on, more effective methods of profit sharing will, no doubt,
be evolved, methods in which there is greater justice for both employer
and employee. New ideas will be developed in welfare work as the result of
scientific methods of employment. Employer and employee will learn to
understand each other better. The success of all of these methods of
organization, when they are adopted, will cause their spread throughout
the industrial world, and thus gradually, but surely, we shall approach
that ideal organization where every employee is looked upon as a bundle of
limitless latent possibilities; where training, education, and development
along lines of constructive thought and feeling are held to be of far more
importance than the invention of new machinery, the discovery of new
methods, or the opening of new markets. This is the reasonable mental
attitude. Some obscure employee, thus trained and educated, may invent
more wonder-working machinery, discover more efficient methods, and open
up wider and more profitable markets than any before dreamed. Even if no
such brilliant star arises, the increased efficiency, loyalty, and
enthusiasm of the whole mass of employees, lifted by its improved
relationships, will yield results far beyond any won by mechanical or
commercial exploitation.
THE EMPLOYEE'S IDEAL
The ideal for every employee, therefore, is that he should be employed in
that position which he is best fitted to fill, doing work which by natural
aptitudes, training, and experience he is best qualified to do, and
working under conditions of material environment--tools, rates of pay,
hours of labor, and periods of rest, superintendence and management,
future prospects, and education--which will develop and make useful to
himself and his employer his best and finest latent abilities and
capacities.
We have seen that the ideal for the organization is that each man in it
shall be so selected, assigned, managed, and educated, that he will
express for the organization his highest and best constructive thoughts
and feelings.
THE MUTUAL IDEAL--CO-OPERATION
There is one more step. That is, the mutual ideal. It is contained in the
other two--and the other two are essentially one. The mutual ideal is the
ideal of co-operation. There is no antagonism between these ideals. The
old fallacy that the boss must get just as much as possible out of the
workman and pay just as little as possible, and that the workman must do
just as little as he can and wring from the boss just as much pay as he
can for what he does, and that, therefore, their interests are
diametrically opposed, has been all but exploded. It was based upon
ignorance, upon prejudice, and upon privately interested
misrepresentation. The new scientific spirit, working side by side with
the new spirit of a broader and deeper humanity, has demonstrated, and is
demonstrating, the truth, that in no other union is there such great
strength as in the union of those who are working together, creating
wealth for themselves and serving humanity. This is the mutual,
co-operative ideal in employment.
PART THREE
ANALYZING CHARACTER IN PERSUASION
CHAPTER I
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION
The first act of practically every human being is to cry. This cry,
unconscious though it may be, is an eager, insistent demand for attention,
an appeal to the minds and the feelings of others, an attempt to persuade
others to act. Life itself and all that makes life worth living depends
upon the effectiveness of that cry.
From the moment of birth, therefore, you are dependent upon your power to
persuade for the provision of all your necessities, the satisfaction of
all your desires, and the realization of all your ambitions. The human
race produces but few Robinson Crusoes, and even these must have their
Fridays. In infancy and early life we persuade our parents to supply our
necessities and grant us our privileges and luxuries. Most of us are wise
enough to appeal to the powerful sentiments of parental duty, parental
love, and parental pride, and, therefore, persuasion is not difficult. As
we grow older, we persuade our teachers that we understand our lessons. We
persuade our playmates to yield to us a share in their sports, and we
persuade our enemies in the boy and girl world to respect us and not to
persecute us. As we grow older, we persuade our husbands or our wives to
marry us. We persuade our children to grow up in the way they should. We
persuade our employers to give us an opportunity to work and to pay us
wages. We persuade our neighbors to yield us respect and social
privileges. We persuade our servants to render loyalty and efficient
service. We persuade dealers to sell us reliable goods at reasonable
prices. We persuade our friends to accept our hospitality, to join our
clubs, our lodges, and to come and live in our suburbs.
POWER TO PERSUADE ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS
If we enter some profession, we find ourselves constantly faced by the
need of persuading our clients and patients, witnesses, judges, juries,
opposing counsel and court officers, our congregations and executive
boards of our churches and schools, individual members of our parishes,
our partners and assistants, and, in fact, people above us, below us, and
all around us. The farmer must sell his produce, the manufacturer his
manufactured article, the railroad its transportation service, wholesale
and retail distributors their merchandise. Politics consists almost wholly
in persuasion. A congressman must persuade first his party leaders and
perhaps his competitor in the party; then the voters at the primaries;
then the voters at the election; then the speaker of the House; then the
members of his committee; then the President and many executives in the
administration; then, perhaps, the House itself in assembly; then, in
turn, his constituents and, perhaps, the entire nation.
Wealth cannot be gained, social position cannot be attained, honor conies
not, power is impossible, authority is not conferred, pleasure cannot be
purchased, a happy and harmonious human life cannot be realized, spiritual
peace cannot be found, and happiness is forever beyond our reach, except
through the power of persuasion. By persuasion in prayer, we attempt to
move the very mind and heart of God Himself.
TWO CANONS OF SUCCESS
So all-inclusive is this power that if you will think the matter out
clearly, you will see that the answer to the problem of every human being,
diverse as these problems are, the gratification of every human desire,
the realization of every human ambition, may be summed up in two brief
colloquial injunctions, namely: first, have the goods; second, to be able
to sell them. Neither one of these is complete without the other. No man
can permanently succeed in any truly desirable way unless he has something
tangible or intangible, spiritual, intellectual, or material which he can
offer to others as compensation for that which he wishes to receive. And
no matter how valuable any man's offering, it must lie unnoticed in the
world's markets unless he can sell it--in other words, persuade others to
exchange for it that which he desires. The thing he wants may be only an
opinion or a conviction, may be only of momentary value, or it may be gold
and silver coin.
The air-brake is probably one of the most valuable inventions ever applied
to the railroad industry, and yet George Westinghouse, its inventor, found
it impossible even to give it away to railroad presidents until he had
learned how to sell it. The telephone, perhaps the greatest convenience,
luxury, and time and money saver of modern times, would have remained a
scientific toy unless the most astute and vigorous methods of persuasion
had been used to insure its almost universal adoption and use. We have
seen that Elias Howe built the first sewing machine so well that its
fundamentals have never been improved upon, and yet, despite his most
strenuous efforts and the efforts of his friends and associates, it
remained a mere mechanical curiosity until he had learned how to persuade
others to use it.
MUTUALITY OF ALL HUMAN INTERESTS
A.F. Sheldon has said, "Salesmanship is not conquest, but co-operation."
Salesmanship is only the commercial name for persuasion, therefore Mr.
Sheldon has uttered a great truth. Human interests do not clash, however
much they may appear to. All human interests are mutual. John D.
Rockefeller did not amass a fortune by making others poor. On the
contrary, in the building up of his hundreds of millions, he increased the
wealth of others by billions. The theory that there is not enough wealth
to go around, and that if one man has a great deal of money others must
therefore have too little, is a vicious and dangerous fallacy. The
resources of the universe are infinite. The possibilities of humanity are
unlimited. The interests of all lie, fundamentally, in the greater and
greater development of the latent possibilities in all men and the more
and more efficient exploitation and conservation of the resources of the
universe. This is philosophic. It is a generalization. It is a statement
of facts so tremendous in their scope and so deep in their significance
that it is difficult to make a connection between them and the practical
details of every-day life.
PERSUASION REVEALS MUTUALITY OF INTERESTS
The very fact that human intercourse, in every aspect of its activity,
rests upon persuasion is an indication that all interests are mutual. The
persuader teaches the persuaded that their interest coincide. Take a
practical example: Salesmen have declared to us that life insurance
policies are the most difficult of all specialties to sell. Yet, in nine
cases out of ten, policyholders will agree that their benefits far exceed
those derived by the salesmen who persuade them to purchase. The life
insurance salesman is not attempting to hoodwink, hypnotize, cajole, or
browbeat his client in a case where their interests clash, but simply, by
skilful setting forth of facts and appeals to the feelings, to persuade
his client to act in his own interest.
We have seen in this chapter that all individuals who succeed depend upon
their power of persuasion. We have seen, also, that persuasion is not
necessarily an attempt to advance the interests of one at the expense of
another, but essentially a process by means of which two or more minds
reach the conclusion that their interests coincide. Since these two
propositions are true, it follows that we shall be justified in laying
tribute upon every means within our power to increase our effectiveness in
persuasion.
PERSUASION A MENTAL ACT DEPENDING UPON INDIVIDUAL MENTAL RESPONSE
Persuasion has been defined as the meeting of minds. This is an excellent
definition, chiefly because it localizes the activities involved. It
identifies our problem as a purely mental or psychical one. The reason why
any two people disagree as to any truth is because their minds have no
common ground upon which to meet. Either the minds do not possess all the
facts, have not reasoned in accordance with the facts so as to reach a
sound conclusion, or, having the facts and having reached the conclusion,
they are actuated by different motives. Or it may be a combination of both
of these conditions which prevents their meeting. Granting that it is to a
man's interest to buy a life insurance policy, the reason he and the
solicitor cannot get together on the proposition is either because he does
not know all of the facts involved or because the solicitor has not
appealed to motives strong enough to cause his prospective customer to
take action. To the insurance solicitor, the facts of the case may be so
clear and so easily grasped that he underestimates his prospective
client's opposition, and so does not present the facts in a convincing
manner or he himself may have such a confused idea of the factors in the
case that he cannot state them clearly. The prospective client may have a
remarkably quick, keen comprehension of the essential factors of any plan,
but may be unable to grasp details, while, on the other hand, the
solicitor, not knowing this, may present his proposition in such minute
detail as to confuse. Or the situation may be exactly reversed. The
client's mind may be very slow in action and demand the presentation of a
few essential facts with all of the reasons for them, or it may be very
quick in action and demand the presentation of many facts in rapid
succession, with no attempt to give reasons for them. It will thus be seen
that, even in getting down to a conclusive possession of facts, the
persuader and the persuaded may be greatly handicapped by
misunderstanding.
THE DIFFERENCE IN MOTIVES
When we proceed from fact to motive, we find even greater possibilities of
misunderstanding. To the solicitor the one all-powerful motive for the
purchase of a life insurance policy may lie in the fact that it is an
excellent investment. Unless, therefore, he understands psychology and his
client well enough to do otherwise, he may talk the investment feature and
appeal to the investment motive when dealing with a man who cares nothing
about the investment, but might respond readily and instantly if his
desire to provide for the future of his wife and children were appealed
to.
Success in persuading, therefore, depends upon two things: First,
knowledge in general as to how the human mind works; how it receives its
knowledge; how it proceeds from facts and motives to conclusions; what its
ambitions, desires, and other feelings are; how these may be aroused and,
finally, how they may provide the motive power and induce favorable
action. Second, knowledge as to how each individual human mind works; what
it's particular methods are in the obtaining of information, in reasoning
upon that information, and forming its conclusions; what its motives are
and how these motives finally induce decision and action.
The study of the first of these problems is a study of psychology. Because
knowledge in regard to it can be easily obtained in practically all of the
standard works of salesmanship, perhaps it is not necessary for us to go
into it more deeply here. Those who wish to pursue it further, may find an
exceedingly valuable discussion of it in "Influencing Men in Business," by
Walter Dill Scott; "The Art of Selling," by Arthur Frederick Sheldon, and
"The Science of Business Building," by Arthur Frederick Sheldon.
MANY DOMINATING MOTIVES
As we have already seen, one man gets his information very quickly,
another must get it slowly. One demands details, another cannot endure
them. But these are not the only differences. One man learns best through
his eyes, another through his ears, and still another by his sense of
touch. One man gets his facts most easily by reading about them, another
must see the actual production, while the third forms the most definite
and easily understandable mental picture of them as a result of hearing
them described. One man, in buying machinery, wants to examine carefully
every detail of its construction, another man wants only to see it in
action and examine its product, while still another man demands both.
There is the same diversity in motives. One man's strongest motive is
vanity; another's, ambition, love of power; still another's, love of
beauty. One man responds most readily to any appeal to his affections,
another to an appeal to his pride. So, amongst dominating motives in men,
we find also avarice, greed, parsimony, benevolence, progressiveness, love
of variety, love of the striking and unusual, love of pleasure, a love of
cleanliness, physical appetite, a desire for comfort, love of home, love
of family, love of friends, love of country, religion, philanthropy,
politics, and many others which will readily occur to the thinking reader.
DIFFICULTY OF DETERMINING MOTIVES
It will readily be seen that no study of psychology in the ordinary
acceptance of the term can give us any clue to these variations in
individuals. Yet successful persuasion depends upon as accurate a
knowledge as possible of these very differences among people. The
parsimonious salesman who takes it for granted that every one's motives
are the same as his own, and, therefore, talks to every prospect about the
money-saving possibilities of his commodity, will most certainly fail in
trying to persuade those to purchase who care nothing about saving a few
cents, but do care a great deal about the quality, style, and beauty of
the commodity. The attorney who makes his plea to the court on the basis
of technical justice in every case he pleads will lose many cases in those
courts where the presiding judge is rather impatient with technical
justice and may, perhaps, decide cases upon their merits or according to
his own sympathies. We once knew a learned, able, and conscientious judge
who, despite his many years' training in the law, was almost certain to
decide a case in favor of the litigant who made the strongest appeal to
his sympathies. The parent who knows nothing but the persuasive power of
corporal punishment, will have little success in disciplining a child
blessed with unusual fighting spirit, independence, and tenacity, just as
the parent who appeals only to a love of approval will fail in handling a
child who does not care what people think about him.
PERSUASION IN DISCIPLINE OF CHILDREN
We once knew a woman who lived near us who had two little boys. One of
them was sensitive, timid, affectionate, and idealistic. Being a healthy,
active boy, there was a great deal of mischief in him, and in her attempts
to discipline him the mother scolded, berated, and often cuffed and
slapped him, occasionally administering a whipping. It was plain that the
scoldings and whippings only made the boy more shy, more self-conscious,
and less confident of himself, which, in one sense, was the worst thing
that could have happened to him. The qualities he most needed were courage
and self-confidence. With his ideals, his responsiveness, and his
affection, he could have been handled easily and would have developed a
splendid intellect and a fine character normally and healthfully.
The other boy, although somewhat younger, was more than a match for his
older brother. He was practical, matter-of-fact, shrewd, courageous, too
self-confident if anything, always ready for a fight, aggressive and
wilful. The mother did not scold or whip this boy for the simple reason
that she could not. He was too active and too willing to fight. Being thus
deprived of the only means of discipline which seemed to her to be
effective, she permitted the boy principally to have his own way, her only
appeals being to his reason. Unfortunately, this is the very type of boy
who will not listen to reason. In this case, as in the first, she would
have been successful if she had appealed to the boy's affections, for he
had a very strong love nature and would have responded instantly.
It is plain enough to any thoughtful mind that it is not safe to judge of
other people's motives by their conversation. "Language," said Talleyrand,
"was invented for the purpose of concealing thought." Many people conceal
their real motives under a very alluring curtain of language. It seems to
be the most natural thing in the world for the thief and swindler to talk
with the greatest apparent earnestness and sincerity and honesty. Pious
talk very frequently is the haze in which an avaricious and greedy soul
hides itself. Bluff, bluster, and boasting are the sops which the coward
throws to his own vanity, while the quietest, sweetest, and gentlest
tones often sheath the fierce heart of the born fighter, as a velvet glove
is said to clothe a hand of steel.
HOW MOTIVES MAY BE KNOWN
Motives lie at the very foundation of being. They are deeply imbedded in
the very cells and fiber of the individual. They shape his thoughts, his
habits, and all of his actions. It is, therefore, impossible that they
should not show themselves to the practiced eye in every physical
characteristic, in the tones of the voice, in the handshake, in gestures,
in the walk, and in handwriting, in clothing, in the condition of the
body, and in the expression of the face. So the motives of man festoon his
personality with flaunting and infallible signs to be known and read by
all men who care to take the trouble to learn. Some of them are so plain
that there is scarcely any grown person so unobservant as not to have seen
them. Others are more elusive, but none the less legible to the practiced
eye.
The simpler motives, after they have held sway for years, are easily
discernible. Sensuality, arrogance, vanity, coldness, benevolence,
sympathy, and others are easily determined. But, in order to be successful
in persuasion, you need to be able to trace all of the feelings both
permanent and transitory.
THE MENTAL LAW OF SALE
There is a great practical truth in the mental law of sale now generally
accepted by business psychologists and by practical men in the business
world. This mental law of sale holds true in all kinds of persuasion
because it describes the process of the human mind as it proceeds, step by
step, from indifference or antagonism to favorable action. It is,
therefore, impossible to discuss intelligently the ways and means of
successful persuasion, except upon a basis of this law. Here is the law:
[10]"Favorable attention properly sustained changes into interest,
interest properly intensified changes into desire, desire properly
augmented ripens into decision and action."
[Footnote 10: From "The Science of Business Building," by A.F. Sheldon.]
FAVORABLE ATTENTION
Now, it is known to psychologists that certain sensations attract
favorable attention in a larger number of cases than others. For example,
in an appeal to the eye, rectangular shape in proportion of three to five,
that is to say, three units of measurement wide by five units of
measurement long is more likely to attract favorable attention than a
square. Similarly, any object in motion or having the illusion of motion,
is more likely to attract favorable attention than an object at rest.
Black letters upon a white background attract more favorable attention
than white letters upon a black background. Many such psychological
problems have been worked out. They are valuable, but they have no place
in this work, since our task here is not to deal with averages, but rather
with variations in individuals--how to discern them and how to deal with
them.
INTEREST
In a similar way, psychologists have determined that the average
individual more quickly becomes interested in that which he can understand
than in that which he cannot understand, in that which appeals to
something in his own experience than in that which has no such appeal, in
that which appeals to his tastes and his feelings than in that which
appeals to his judgment. These are rules applicable to the average, but
they are very general and are of little use to you unless you add to them
specific knowledge of every individual whom you wish to persuade.
DESIRE
Desire, as you will see by the terms of the law of sale, is merely
interest intensified. Desire is the main spring of action. It is the real
force of every motive. Contradictory as it may seem at first sight, people
always do what they want to do even when they act most reluctantly. Their
action is inspired by a desire to escape what they believe to be the
certain penalty of inaction or of contrary action. The boy who slowly
approaches his father to receive a promised whipping, does so because he
wants to. And he wants to because he knows he will be whipped so much
harder if he runs away. Desire is, therefore, the great citadel toward
which all of the campaign of the persuader must be directed. Given a
powerful enough desire, decision and action follow as a matter of course.
Psychologists have determined that imagination is the most powerful mental
stimulus to desire. Imagination presents to the mind, as it were, a more
or less vivid mental picture of the individual enjoying the gratification
of his desire--be it physical, intellectual, or spiritual. The longer this
picture remains in the mind, the more vivid it becomes, the more it crowds
all other thoughts and feelings from the mind, the more powerful and
irresistible becomes the desire. It is the task of the persuader,
therefore, to stimulate the imagination to the painting of such mental
pictures. This we well know, but what we wish to know further is what are
the most powerful desires in the particular human mind with which we are
dealing. Obviously, the automobile salesman who vividly pictures to the
timid person the thrills of speeding around curves would be as far wrong
as if he were picturing the sedate, quiet luxury of his car to a speed
maniac. What he wants to know and what we all want to know in substance is
how to tell, at a glance, which is the timid, sedate person and which the
speed maniac.
DECISION AND ACTION
Perhaps the most delicate and most difficult process among all the four
steps of persuasion is inducing decision and action. When one reflects
upon the multitudinous important decisions made and actions taken every
hour, it hardly seems possible that it can be so difficult to induce our
fellow-men to make the short step from hesitant desire to definite
decision. The truth is, of course, that in the making of almost any
important decision there is a stern conflict between conflicting desires.
Take, for example, a man buying an automobile. Under the skilful
persuasive power of the salesman, he has vividly pictured to himself
enjoying possession. But this is not his only mental picture. Perhaps he
has a picture of his old age, in which he might enjoy the income from the
money which would go into an automobile. There are also in his mind mental
pictures of half a dozen to a dozen or more other makes of automobiles. In
addition to these, there may be a mental picture of a motor boat, a little
cottage by the sea, a new set of furniture for his house, new fittings for
his store, an increased advertising appropriation, a new insurance policy,
a trip to California and return, and goodness only knows how many other
objects of desire. It is no wonder he hesitates and that he must be very
skilfully and deftly brought to the point of decision.
WAYS OF INDUCING DECISION AND ACTION
For this reason, experience has shown that many people, perhaps the
majority of people, can be induced to decide whether they will have red
rubber or gray rubber tires on an automobile they contemplate purchasing
far more easily than they can be induced to decide definitely that they
will purchase the car. Having decided upon the tires, however, they can be
asked to decide upon other minor points, including the terms upon which
they intend to pay for the car, and thus eventually go through the entire
process of purchasing the car without ever giving their delicate mental
mechanism the severe shock and strain of deciding to purchase it at all.
As a general rule, such people are surprised and delighted to find that
they have made the decision so easily and with so little pain and
distress.
But this method will not work with all people. There are some natures so
positive, so aggressive, so fond of taking the initiative, so determined
to make their own decisions without interference that the wise salesman or
persuader apparently permits them to have their own way, at the same time
skilfully guiding them in the way he wishes them to go by means of
indirect suggestion.
INDUCING A POSITIVE NATURE TO PERSUADE HIMSELF
The story is told of an old-time, domineering railroad official, formerly
an army colonel, a great lover of horses, who was intensely prejudiced
against the automobile. During the days when carriages were favorite
conveyances of the wealthy, this man kept a magnificent stable and boasted
that no driver ever passed him on the road. With the coming in of
automobiles, he became accustomed to seeing the gasoline-drinking machines
flash by. They came up behind him with a honk. They rushed by with a roar
and they disappeared in the distance in a cloud of dust. He saw the
chauffeurs gripping their steering wheels and glaring intensely along the
road.
"Humph!" he scorned, "those fellows work harder than an engineer for their
rattlety-bang speed. I had rather sit back and get some pleasure out of
riding, as I do behind my bays."
Then one morning he noticed a car slip by him slowly, noiselessly, easily,
and with so little evidence of effort that the old man felt that by urging
his horses to just a little faster pace he might have kept ahead. The next
morning, the same thing happened again. It was the same car, and this time
the old man tightened his reins a little and sent his horses speeding
ahead. At first he gained a little on the car, but eventually it pulled
slowly and easily away from him. The third morning, there was another
little brush of speed on the boulevard. By this time the old railroad man
had noticed how luxurious the car was, how smoothly it rolled, how deeply
upholstered were the seats, how lustrous and satiny the finish.
Finally, one morning, one of the old man's horses cast a shoe and the
courteous young driver of the automobile, coming along, kindly offered to
take the colonel on downtown. The offer was accepted, the team sent to a
horseshoer's in care of the coachman, and the colonel and his new friend
drove off still slowly, still quietly, and yet, one by one, they passed
other carriages on the road. Finally a trolley car was overtaken and left
behind.
"See," said the young man modestly, "just the pressure of a finger on the
throttle."
"Oh, do you call that a throttle?" asked the railroader. The word was a
familiar one to him, and being distinctly of the mechanical type, he was
easily interested in machinery. For the remainder of the journey the young
man talked quietly, but interestingly of the mechanism of the car,
emphasizing the need of skill, steadiness of eye, steadiness of hand,
coolness of nerve necessary to drive it. The colonel was deeply interested
and, just as the young man deposited him at his destination, he said, "It
is possible your horses may not be ready to come for you this evening. If
so, I should be delighted to call for you as I go out your way at about
the same time you go." The colonel graciously accepted the invitation and
at four o'clock of that same afternoon he was again seated along-side the
driver of the car. After they had drawn out of the congested streets onto
the wide boulevard, the young man again deftly turned the conversation to
the mechanism of the car and the skill necessary for driving it. This was
too much for the colonel.
"Pshaw! I do not believe it takes so much skill. With what I know about
it, I believe I could drive the car."
After some hesitation, the young man finally permitted the railroad
official to take the wheel. At first the colonel drove somewhat clumsily,
but this only increased his determination, and within an hour he was
sending the car along at a good clip. When finally they drove up to the
colonel's country home, the young man scarcely needed to invite his
passenger to accompany him to the city on the following morning. Before
the end of the week, the old man had purchased a magnificent high-powered
car. So skilfully did the young man handle his campaign that his customer
did not learn he was an automobile salesman until just a few hours before
the deal was consummated.
HANDLING THE INDECISIVE
If there are positive natures which must be permitted to feel that the
decision is all their own, there are weak, indecisive natures, also, who
are rather grateful than otherwise for having important decisions taken
off of their hands. For such people, a direct, positive suggestion is
perhaps the most powerful and effective means of securing decision and
action. One of the favorite methods of dealing with them is to press a
fountain pen into their fingers with the definitely worded command, "Sign
your name right here, please."
People are also brought to decide and act by being impressed with the fact
that delay may make it altogether too late or may possibly postpone part
of the advantage to be gained or may permit some one else to get ahead.
Decision oftentimes is also induced by a direct or indirect compliment to
the individual's decisiveness, positiveness, and ability to take action
when he sees that action is necessary. A very successful salesman often
used this method: "You say rightly that you want to think it over. That
shows that you are a wise man, because a man who acts without thinking is
foolish. On the other hand, the man who thinks without acting is a mere
dreamer, and I know you do not belong to that class. You have had the
evidence. You have weighed it. You have formed your conclusions, and now,
because you are a man of decision and action, you are ready to sign the
contract."
NEED FOR CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Here, again, the reader has already seen that we are dealing with
generalities. We have, as yet, no way of determining definitely and
quickly whether the individual with whom we are dealing will respond best
to that treatment which secures his decision upon minor points, or that
which permits him to make his own decision guided only by indirect
suggestions, or that which makes the decision for him, or that which
compliments him upon his decisiveness, or any one of many other methods of
closing. And so it is necessary to study humanity to learn to know just
what will gain favorable attention of each one individually, just which
one of a thousand possible motives to appeal to in order to arouse
interest, just what kind of a desire to stimulate in order to intensify
it to that point where it becomes irresistible, just what method of
closing to use in order to bring about decision and action.
In succeeding chapters of this part of the book, we shall give some
attention to these problems.
CHAPTER II
SECURING FAVORABLE ATTENTION
You would find it an interesting study in human nature to stand in front
of different shop windows and record the types of people whose favorable
attention is drawn by each. Select, for example, a book-store window, a
jewelry display, a window full of tools and instruments, an offering of
meats and groceries, and a traction engine. You will find a description of
various types in the first few chapters of this book. Suppose you took
fifty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty, two hundred observations before
each display and then analyzed the records to find the percentage of each
type whose favorable attention was called to each window.
Our own observations, taken in New York City, produced the following
results:
Phys. Bone & Imprac- Profes- Mechanical
Display Frail Fat Muscle tical sional Vain Total
Bookstore 30 10 12 15 20 6 7 100
Jewelry 15 20 3 12 19 35 6 100
Tools & 8 12 30 6 14 4 26 100
Instruments
Meats & 6 42 8 8 13 11 12 100
Groceries
Traction 8 16 31 9 7 3 26 100
Engine
THE PHYSICALLY FRAIL
These results show that the individual of the physically frail type, as
described in Chapter 2 of this book, is chiefly interested in books, in
beauty, ideas and ideals, elegance, and luxuries. His favorable attention
is caught by that which is beautiful. If the thing offered him has in it
or about it any elements of beauty, elegance, luxury, or idealism, this
should first be presented, even if the true value of the article lies in
its utility. In the same way, this individual will respond most quickly
with his favorable attention to that which is intellectual, educational,
literary, scientific, or philosophic, unless he is also of the strictly
financial type which is sometimes, though not often, true of the
physically frail. Then his attention may be readily secured by an apt
quotation from a price list.
Because the physically frail man does not like manual labor and cannot do
it well, his attention may be gained by any contrivance for saving labor,
making life easier physically, and substituting mental work for physical.
"Let the Gold Dust Twins Do Your Work" is a headline which no doubt
attracts the favorable attention of many of this class, who might utterly
ignore "Let the Gold Dust Twins Save You Money."
THE FAT MAN
The favorable attention of the fat man is very evidently gained most
readily by that which appeals to his physical senses and appetites. This
is because the keynote of his nature is enjoyment. He is always on the
alert for anything which may contribute to his enjoyment. He is not fond
of physical or mental work, but he is interested in food products,
labor-saving devices, comforts, luxuries, finances, politics,
merchandizing, and, in fact, everything which contributes to his enjoyment
either directly or indirectly through his ability to command the mental
and physical services of others.
He who would gain the favorable attention of a fat man, therefore, might
be most successful by beginning with inviting him to luncheon or dinner.
In the absence of this, he might begin conversation by a discreet question
or comment upon the political situation. The headline, "Let Me Show You
How To Make More Money" might appeal to the impractical man, but it is not
likely to gain the favorable attention of the fat man. The fat man's
natural feeling about a request of that kind is: "If you know how to make
more money, why don't you use that knowledge for yourself?" Financially,
his favorable attention is much more likely to be secured by asking him
whether he believes real estate prices are going to advance or railroad
stocks are going to decline or interest rates are going to hold firm.
Unless he is of the highly speculative type, he is more than likely to be
suspicious of any financial proposition which offers large returns at the
outset. He usually has a shrewd way of unearthing propositions which will
pay him large returns; but, as a general rule, he would rather unearth
them himself than to have some interested party come and offer them to
him.
THE MAN OF BONE AND MUSCLE
The favorable attention of the man of bone and muscle is always most
quickly gained by something that moves, some piece of mechanism, or,
perhaps, by an object suggestive of outdoor sports. Many a salesman has
secured the favorable attention and gained his way into the good graces of
a man of this type by talking to him about hunting, fishing, golf or
baseball. If you take the fat man to luncheon with you, take this man out
to play golf or tennis or have a motor ride.
A salesman of our acquaintance once determined to sell a full line of
school supplies to the superintendent of schools in a large western city.
The contract was a considerable one and meant a large commission to the
salesman. As he studied the situation, he learned that one of his
competitors had been furnishing all of the supplies for the schools in
this city for a number of years and that it was very difficult for the
salesmen from other business houses to get a hearing. The superintendent's
usual manner of rebuff was to say: "No, I do not care to look at your
line. We are being excellently served now, sir, and have no desire to make
a change."
This salesman proceeded to the office of the superintendent early in the
morning, before that official arrived, and was waiting in the ante-room
when his prospective customer came in. Observing the man quickly, as he
walked through the ante-room into his private office, the salesman noted
that he was tall, square-shouldered, with a square face and jaw, wide
forehead and a slow, elastic, graceful stride. In other words, he was
distinctly a man of the bony and muscular type. A few minutes later the
salesman was ushered into the superintendent's office. He carried with
him, instead of a huge sample case--this he left in the ante-room--an
ingenious little mechanical pencil sharpener. Stepping up to the
superintendent's desk, he set the machine down squarely in front of the
official and, without a word, picked up a pencil from the desk and
sharpened it.
"How much by the dozen?" asked the superintendent.
"Twenty-five dollars," replied the salesman.
"Send me five dozen," said the superintendent, drawing towards him a
requisition blank.
While the superintendent was writing the requisition, the salesman quietly
slipped out and brought in his sample case. When he returned, the
superintendent was sharpening a pencil for himself with much evident
enjoyment.
"What else have you?" said he, without looking up.
Of course that question opened up the salesman's sample case, and when he
left the office, he had at least broken down that ancient barrier and had
secured an order for considerably more than one-third of the year's
supplies.
In our story of the railroad man who was induced to buy an automobile
without even suspecting that his patronage was being solicited, observe
how skillfully the salesman drew his customer's attention to the
mechanical features of the machine. The colonel, being a railroad man,
was, of course, of this bony and muscular type.
THE IMPRACTICAL MAN
The impractical man lives in a world of dreams, theories, hypotheses, and
philosophies. His favorable attention is immediately attracted to an
ingenious idea. If he is of the fine-textured, delicate-featured type, he
will give his favorable attention readily to that which is artistic,
poetical, musical, dramatic, or literary. Financially, he is far more
likely to give attention to a proposition which promises immense returns
quickly than to one which is safe, solid and substantial, but promises
only small returns. His favorable attention cannot for long be sustained
by mere recitation of facts. He does not care much about facts and they
are likely to prove dry and uninteresting to him. Give him the theories;
show him the philosophy of the thing; appeal to his imagination, his sense
of beauty and his ideals, and he is ready to listen further.
THE PRACTICAL MAN
The practical man demands facts. Theories and abstractions worry him. Even
if you had his favorable attention and were to try to go too much into the
reasons for things, you would probably lose it. He is the kind of man who
wants to be shown, who demands that you place the actual object before
him, if possible, so that he can see it, taste it, smell it, feel of it.
His principal concern about any proposition is not, "Is it reasonable?" or
"Is it in accordance with theories?" but rather "Will it work?" "Is it
practical?" If you can show him the facts and can convince him by
demonstration, if possible, that the thing will work, you will secure his
very immediate attention.
THE VAIN
Those who are hungry for fame, who are eager for the limelight, whose ears
itch for the sound of applause, are, of course, quickly responsive to
flattery. If they are fine-textured and have delicate features, small
hands and feet, flattery must be of a refined and delicate nature. If, on
the other hand, they are of coarse texture, large, coarse features and big
hands and feet, they will, if their vanity be a ruling motive, eagerly
swallow the most atrocious and fulsome praises. Look for the extremely
short upper lip, for an excess of jewelry, a tendency to over-dress and
extreme foppish methods of arranging the hair. Where you find one or more
of these indications, you find the easiest road to favorable attention
through the appetite of the individual for praise. If he is of the
intellectual type, praise him for his smartness. If he is a fat man,
praise him for his popularity, his political astuteness, his financial
acumen, his artistic ordering of a dinner, for his impartiality. If he is
of the bony and muscular type, praise him for his mechanical ability, for
his strength, skill and agility, for his love of freedom and independence.
If he is of the literary and artistic type, praise him for his art. If he
shows a fondness for dress, flatter him on his personal appearance. Watch
any man of this type carefully and you will soon discover his pet vanity,
and when you have discovered it, you have found an easy road to the
citadel of his desires.
THE MATTER-OF-FACT
If an individual has a long, straight upper lip, a keenly practical,
matter-of-fact type of forehead, long, severe lines of countenance and a
high crown, do not attempt flattery. Such a person is instantly suspicious
of anyone who flatters him. He keeps his feelings well under control. He
has very decided opinions and convictions of his own and it is difficult
to induce him to act except in accordance with them. Such a person gives
his favorable attention to fact and, usually, only to facts germane to the
proposition in hand. He does not care much for comments upon these facts
and is quite likely to refuse to listen to all appeals to his emotions. He
has, however, as a general rule, considerable love of power. He likes to
dominate, to rule, not so much for material personal advantage as for the
sake of imposing his opinions and convictions upon others and the
satisfaction of feeling that the power is in his hands. Show him facts
that will convince him that your proposition will increase his power and
you appeal to one of his strongest motives.
THE SOCIAL AND FRIENDLY
There is a very large class of people who are distinctly friendly and
social in type. A leading characteristic of this type is, as we have
stated already, the full, round back-head. The best, easiest and quickest
way to gain the favorable attention of such people is to develop your
relations with them upon a friendly and social basis. Indeed, a capacity
for making friends and keeping them is one of the most valuable assets of
any human being, no matter what his ambitions and desires. As a general
rule, we can more easily persuade those who feel friendly toward us than
we can those who are indifferent. Observe the successful salesman and the
successful politician, those whose professional success depends upon the
power to persuade; they are nearly all of the social, friendly type.
THE VALUE OF FRIENDLINESS
For some men it comes natural to make friends with everyone with whom they
come in contact. Others make friends with few, but their friendships are
powerful and lasting. Still others are very social; they meet people
easily and are fairly successful in dealing with them; but they make few,
if any, intimate friends. Still others are neither social nor friendly.
They do not particularly care for people but rather enjoy solitude. No
matter which type a man may be, he will do well to cultivate true
friendliness. Our friends turn business to us. They give us important
information at the right time. They influence people in our favor. They
warn us of disasters. They come to our rescue in times of trouble and help
to protect us against our enemies. Finally, but perhaps most important of
all, they give us an opportunity to do all these things for them, and in
this service we find our highest and truest pleasure.
COMBINATION TYPES
We have suggested arbitrarily in this chapter a few of the types you will
meet and the best ways to gain the favorable attention of each. Naturally,
these types may overlap. For example, a man may be a fat man and also of
the exceedingly practical type. He is, therefore, approachable upon either
one of the two lines suggested or with something which appeals to both
elements in his nature at once. Plain, simple, easily recognized facts
about a sound financial proposition, for example, would combine the two
factors.
There are, of course, many other types and combination types. To treat
each one of them exhaustively would require, not a volume, but a library.
Yet there are certain fundamental principles by which all of them may be
known and in accordance with which each may be successfully persuaded. A
thorough scientific study of human nature will reveal them.
CHAPTER III
AROUSING INTEREST AND CREATING DESIRE
Before the days of business psychology, form letters for the purpose of
securing business from those addressed used to begin something like this:
"DEAR MR. BLANK:
"We beg to announce that we have on hand a very large
stock of bicycles, which we desire to close out as early as possible."
Consciously or unconsciously, the recipient of this letter would say to
himself: "What in thunder is that to me? I have no particular interest in
this fellow's stock of bicycles. I do not care whether his stock is large
or small, nor do I care whether he wants to sell it or not." And the form
letter would go into the waste basket. Nowadays, however, we have learned
better and our form letter would begin something like this:
"DEAR MR. BLANK:
"What would it be worth to you to have the freedom of movement, the
open air, the healthful exercise, and the enjoyment of the beauties
of nature which are all placed easily within your reach by the
possession of a bicycle?"
The recipient of this letter immediately pictures to himself time saved in
going to and from work, in running errands, in paying visits. He also has
visions of increased health--perhaps freedom from the headaches that have
been troubling him--pictures of long rides upon air-shod wheels over
smooth boulevards and through leafy lanes.
_Himself!_
Do you get it? The writer of that letter makes the reader think about
_himself_. He knows that the latter is more interested in himself than in
any other human being in the world and that he is more interested in human
beings than he is in anything else. This is the key to the arousing of
interest. Make the man think about himself in connection with what you
have to offer.
HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES
But different people think about themselves in entirely different ways.
The glutton thinks of his stomach; the scholar of his knowledge; the
athlete of his prowess, and the seeker after power, of his ambitions.
Those who seek to persuade others by scientific means will learn to
determine in just what way each individual is most interested in himself.
Then his task will be to make every individual whom he seeks to persuade
think, as he best likes to think, of himself and, at the same time, in
close connection, think of the idea or the article or the proposition
offered.
INTERESTING THE INTELLECTUAL MAN
Suppose he were trying to persuade a man of the intellectual type to
purchase a life insurance policy. After having gained favorable attention,
his further argument might be along these lines: "Your greatest asset is
in your mental power. With your intellect you can accomplish what it would
take a hundred men a year to accomplish with their hands. In fact, with
your intellect you can accomplish what no number of men working throughout
eternity could accomplish by the mere toil of their hands. Intellectual
power depends upon the ability to concentrate and the freedom and health
of your intellectual faculties. Psychologists and physiologists both
agree, as you well know, that there is nothing which quite so quickly
upsets both your physical and your mental machinery as anxiety and worry.
With this policy in force, you are fortified--you are free to concentrate
upon your problems, your work, without anxiety as to the future of your
wife and children. Whatever happens to you, you know that they will be
provided for. Furthermore, if you should live twenty years from now, you
will receive ten thousand dollars in one lump sum. That is a provision
against the possible day when you may be weary and wish to rest, or it may
be just the endowment which you need in order to carry on your researches
and investigations and, perhaps, find the solution to some of the
intellectual problems on which you have so long been working."
INTERESTING THE FAT MAN
The fat man likes to think of himself enjoying the good things of life as
to body and mind, comfort, luxury, a jovial good time with congenial
friends, the exercise of executive, financial or political power, or all
three. His interest, therefore, is readily aroused if you talk to him
about himself in connection with these things. There are many cases, of
course, in which this must be done indirectly rather than directly. The
effort should be not always to talk directly about the man to himself, but
to make him think about himself. It is usually not permissible to talk to
the judge on the bench about himself, but it is always permissible to
paint the picture in such a way that the judge, if he is a fat man, will
almost inevitably think of himself in connection with the matters
presented.
For example, a lawyer friend of ours often appeared with cases before a
corpulent jurist. "If it is at all possible," he told us, "without
dragging the thing in too obviously by the ears, I always talk about food
in my summing up. If I want to get the sympathy of the judge, I try,
somehow or other, to make my client appear before the imagination as
suffering from want of nourishment. I can see that the judge always feels
those sufferings keenly himself. In one case, where I represented a woman
in a divorce case, I told, as graphically as I knew how, the excellence of
her cooking. I told about how her roast chicken and her pies tasted, and I
could actually see his Honor's mouth water. Of course, in addition to
that, I presented a good legal case. But I have always thought it was
those imaginary pies and roast chicken that got my client her decision."
INTERESTS OF THE ACTIVE MAN
The man of bone and muscle likes to think of himself in action. Muscular
exercise, out-of-doors freedom, skill, agility and strength--these are the
things in which he is interested. You can also interest him in thoughts
of himself using tools, building or operating machinery, traveling or,
perhaps, working in his garden or amongst his fruit trees. By an easy step
in analogy this man is also interested in politics and religion, freedom
and reform, and in mechanical principles and construction. Notice how the
letter cited at the opening of this chapter makes the man who receives it
think of himself in motion, think of himself as enjoying freedom, the
outdoor air, exercise, the beauties of nature. All of these things appeal
to the man of bone and muscle, who is, by all odds, the most likely
purchaser of a bicycle.
THE IMPRACTICAL MAN'S INTEREST
The impractical man usually likes to think of himself as an ideal being,
living in an ideal world, surrounded by ideal people, associated together
under ideal conditions. In other words, he is a day-dreamer, dreaming of
those things which delight him most, without thought as to their
foundation in fact, or the possibility of putting them into practice. It
is usually easy enough for the eloquent salesman who understands him to
persuade such a man. He responds to eloquence. Since he doesn't demand
facts, his mind is soon soaring off into realms of fancy upon the wings of
the speaker's words. But since interests are all mutual, you will, if you
are wise, use your knowledge of this man's impractical nature to help to
persuade him to do for himself that which is practicable. Such a man ought
to have life insurance, for example, and to have it so protected that he
can do nothing visionary and impracticable with it. Make him think of
himself, if you can, conferring ideal benefits upon his wife and family.
You could never interest him in the bare, trite facts in the case, but
when you have gained his interest, see to it that you sell him an entirely
practicable life insurance policy for a man of his type. There is never
any ultimate advantage gained by using your knowledge of human nature to
persuade people to do anything which is not, in the long run, the best
thing for them to do.
INTERESTING THE PRACTICAL MAN
The practical man likes to think of himself and others as doing things, as
saying things, accomplishing practical things, worth-while things. We
shall never forget the intensity with which one of the most practical
persons in our acquaintance says over and over again: "I like to see
things _done_" If your practical person is also of the financial type, he
likes to think of himself as doing things which will result in profit.
There is scarcely any proposition of any kind you may ever wish to present
to a practical financial person which cannot be presented in such a way as
to make that person think of himself as getting something done both
practical and profitable. If you can make him think of himself in this
way, you will have aroused his interest.
INTERESTS OF THE VAIN
Vain men and women, who live upon the praises, applause and approval of
others, like to think of themselves as being admired, courted, favored,
appreciated, and even flattered. Such a person once said to us: "I cannot
live without flattery. I want people to say nice things about me. I do not
care whether they mean them or not, if only they will say them to my
face." To interest such a person in himself is really a work of
supererogation--because he thinks of nothing else, and usually can talk of
nothing else. All you have to do to arouse his interest is to show him the
connection between his vanity and the proposition you have to offer, and
then heartily join in the applause.
GENERAL APPLICATIONS
In a similar way, the doting mother thinks about herself in connection
with her children. Make the devoted husband and father think about himself
in connection with his family. Make the social, friendly person think
about himself in connection with his acquaintances and friends. Make the
detail worker think of himself in connection with little intimate details.
Make the generalist think of himself in connection with large movements.
The interest a person may feel is not always concerned with that which is
immediately and directly connected with himself. Just at present, for
example, we are all more or less interested in the war in Europe. We read
about it. We discuss and argue about it. We follow its moves of armies and
diplomacies. In one sense this interest is impersonal. Yet,
psychologically, our interest depends entirely upon our own connection
with the results. Through our sympathies we place ourselves either with
"the oppressed Belgian people whose homes have been ravished" or with "the
great German nation fighting for its existence against an iron ring of
enemies who enviously conspired for her downfall." We are also interested
in the war because it affects our business, our finances, our means of
travel and communication, and a thousand and one other matters which
directly concern us. Even a casual observer might be interested in a war
between two colonies of ants; but unless the outcome in some way directly
concerned him, his interest would be purely intellectual and by no means
strong enough to use as a basis for successful persuasion.
UNSELFISHNESS OF SELF-INTEREST
Some may object that in treating the subject of interest, we have made
human beings appear far more selfish and self-seeking than they really
are. Such is not our intention. The most unselfish acts of heroism that
can be performed result from intense personal interest aroused through
sympathy, generosity, duty, patriotism, or love. When a person capable of
one of these heroic acts thinks of himself, he is likely to think of
himself as sympathizing with those who suffer, as being generous to those
who are in need, as performing his duty without fear of consequences, as
loving his native land, or as pouring out his very soul for the benefit of
those who are dear to him.
DESIRE
According to the law of sale, desire is interest intensified. Interest may
be purely intellectual. Desire is a feeling. Interest may not even suggest
speech or action to the interested person. Desire infallibly suggests
speech or action. The woman who stands before a magnificent window display
of the latest fashions in evening gowns may be deeply interested in them,
but if, perchance, she be a modest, retiring, home-keeping woman with no
social ambitions, she doesn't even think of purchasing one. In fact, the
chances are that she would not accept it as a gift. She would have no use
for it. As a result, her interest in the display begins to wane and soon
she passes on. How different is the case of the woman who loves
excitement, attends many evening functions, and is ambitious to outshine
her friends! She stops before the window. She also is interested. The
longer she stands before the window and the more interested she becomes,
the more certain is she to begin to think about purchasing one or more of
the gowns, or of having one or more made upon these models. If she stands
there long enough and her interest continues to increase, she will soon be
making definite plans for gaining possession. In other words, her desire
for an evening gown has been aroused.
MAKE THEM SEE THEMSELVES ENJOYING POSSESSION
Ask any successful clothing salesman or saleslady what is the best way to
arouse desire for a suit, a cloak or a gown. Almost without exception they
will answer: "Place the garment on the prospective customer and let him
see himself in a good mirror and in a good light." In this way the
individual actually sees himself enjoying possession. There is no stronger
stimulus to desire than this.
A young man of our acquaintance had a great contempt for spring and fall
overcoats, and had never purchased one. One day, after he had ordered a
suit from his tailor, the salesman said: "Mr. Jenkins, you ought to have a
spring overcoat to wear with that suit."
"A spring overcoat!" scoffed Jenkins. "I never wore a spring overcoat in
my life. When it is cold, I wear my winter overcoat. When it is too warm
for that, I am perfectly comfortable without an overcoat. Why should I
waste my money in a thing which is only ornamental? If I am going to
spend any more money on overcoats, I should rather put it into an extra
fine winter overcoat."
"Now, here is one of our very latest styles, Mr. Jenkins," went on the
salesman, ignoring the protest. "Just slip it on and see how it fits you."
The salesman held the garment invitingly, and, with a grudging warning to
the salesman that he was wasting his time, Jenkins slipped it on. The
salesman settled it upon his broad shoulders, smoothly folded back the
rich, heavy silk facing, and deftly swung a mirror into position.
"Fits as if it were made for you, Mr. Jenkins," he praised. "I tell you,
when you walk down the street in that overcoat in the bright, clear
sunlight of a spring morning, you look prosperous."
In relating the incident afterward, Jenkins said: "Why, the fellow had me,
absolutely. I could see myself walking down Michigan Avenue to business,
and the sun shining on the lake, and the little shoots of grass beginning
to show in Grant Park. I did feel prosperous. I felt so prosperous that,
then and there, I bought that overcoat, the first spring overcoat I ever
owned and just exactly one more spring overcoat than I had ever had any
intention of owning."
AROUSE THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT THEMSELVES
If interest, therefore, is aroused by making a person think about himself,
desire is created by making a person feel about himself and feel about
himself in such a way that the feeling impels him to favorable decision
and action. The object of the man or woman who would persuade according to
scientific principles is to stimulate, through intensified thought, the
strongest and most easily aroused feelings of the person to be persuaded.
As you have already seen, we have been hammering upon those feelings from
the very beginning. In securing favorable attention, we appeal to them. In
arousing interest, we do our best to make the person to be persuaded think
of himself in connection with these feelings; and now, in creating
desire, we simply are going a step further and by every possible means
intensifying the excitement of those feelings.
For example, in selling a garment to an exceedingly utilitarian and
economical person, we secure his favorable attention, perhaps, by the
remark: "Let me show you something that will look as well as the best and
wear like iron, at a moderate price." We arouse his interest by showing
him the hard, close, wear-resisting weave of cloth, the tenacity with
which it holds its shape, and, at the same time, its neatness,
attractiveness, finish, and superior workmanship. We create a desire for
the possession of the garment by inducing him to put it on, at the same
time remarking: "You can see for yourself that this garment is
conservative and suitable in style. While not the extreme of fashion, it
is not out-of-date nor out of harmony with the prevailing mode. A year
from now you will be able to wear it with exactly the same feeling that
you are well and neatly dressed, as you feel in wearing it to-day.
Furthermore, because it is a standard style and not a novelty, it sells at
far below the cost of fancy garments, notwithstanding its superior quality
and workmanship. You will be proud to wear this garment when those who
have paid twice as much for the more extreme styles have been compelled to
discard them and purchase new."
THE PERSUASIVE POWER OF SUGGESTION
In his excellent scientific work, "Influencing Men in Business," Walter
Dill Scott says:
"In persuading men, logical reasoning is practically never to be used
alone. After the arguments have been presented, skillful suggestions
should be used as a supplement. This supplement often changes threatened
defeat into success. The skillful pleader before a jury, the wise
politician, and the successful superintendent of men all alike are
compelled to resort to suggestion to supplement their arguments in their
attempts to influence men.
"If we should divide all customers into the two classes, professional
buyers and the general public, then, in appealing to this latter class,
special attention should be given to suggestion. In an advertisement
containing both a good suggestion and a good argument, the suggestion is
read often and the argument rarely. From infancy, we have been accustomed
to respond to suggestions so frequently that we follow this habit in
purchasing merchandise, even though we ought to make such purchases only
after due deliberation. Deliberation is a process of thought which is very
elaborate and very exhausting. The general purchaser--the housewife--does
not ordinarily rise to such an undertaking, but contents herself with a
process very closely approximating the working of pure suggestion. Even
though she begins to deliberate, the process is likely to be cut short by
the effect of a clever suggestion.
"The general public responds more readily to suggestions than to
arguments; hence, in dealing with this large group, it is usually wise to
construct the copy according to this habitual method of response of the
general public. Immediate action is more often secured by suggestion than
by arguments."
Since this is true, that person is most skillful in persuading who has
acquired the most skill in suggestion. He stimulates the imagination to
paint vivid and intensely-colored mental pictures of the gratification of
desire. Make desire strong enough, and, if you have correctly analyzed the
one to be persuaded, the rest follows.
CHAPTER IV
INDUCING DECISION AND ACTION
"I want it," said a gentleman to us, speaking of a piece of property in
which he was contemplating investment. "I want it so bad that I can't
think of much else. I lie awake nights dreaming of myself in possession of
it, and yet, somehow or other, I can't make up my mind to buy it. I have
the money and have had the money in the bank for weeks. There is nothing
else I want to do with that money half as much as I want to buy that
property, but it is an important move and, somehow or other, I just can't
make the plunge."
This gentleman's experience illustrates a psychological condition well
known to many of our readers, because they have been in substantially the
same situation--and well known to every salesman, because he has had to
meet and combat just such a situation many a time.
Desire having been created, our law of sale states that desire, properly
augmented, ripens into decision and action. This is true. And yet the
ripening process is sometimes so slow that the frost of fear or the rot of
regret spoils the fruit. It is popularly supposed to be true that if a
person really desires to do a thing strongly enough, and it is within the
bounds of possibility, he will do it. Nine times out of ten, or perhaps
ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this is the case; but there are times
when the will simply refuses to respond to desire.
A BALKY WILL
A lady who was of an exceedingly stubborn nature once said to us:
"Ordinarily, I consider myself to be quite amenable to persuasion and
suggestion. I like to live peaceably with others. Occasionally, however,
someone, and perhaps someone whom I love very dearly, says something or
does something that makes me stubborn. Then I absolutely balk. Commands,
demands, appeals, cajoleries, every means thinkable, are used, but the
more people attempt to influence my action, the more stubborn I become. If
then I am left alone to think it over for a few hours, very likely I shall
begin to think that it would be advisable, from every point of view, for
me to yield. My judgment is already convinced that to yield is the best
policy. My love for my friends, my desire for peace, my wish to be
accommodating and to have their approval all urge me to yield. I want to
yield. But, even then--how, I cannot explain--there is something inside
which absolutely forbids it. This is so strong that it feels stronger than
my judgment and all of my desires taken together. The only possible course
for me to pursue is to forget the entire matter for a few days, at the end
of which time, perhaps, the stubbornness has seemingly evaporated."
DECISION MAY WAIT UPON AN IRRELEVANT WORD
And so, merely augmenting desire oftentimes is not enough to bring about
decision and action, even in cases which are not so extreme as those which
we have just cited. The proposition may be of such a nature that it does
not admit of arousing desire to any very high pitch. In all such cases
what is needed is some special stimulus to the will. As every chemist
knows, sulphuric acid and alcohol, when mingled together in a glass
vessel, do not combine. They have an affinity for each other. All of the
necessary elements for active combination are present in that glass, and
yet they do not combine. But drop in a bit of platinum and instantly the
whole mass is boiling with energy let loose. In a similar way, oftentimes,
all the elements for decision and action are present in the mind, yet
nothing happens. But a word or a little act, seemingly insignificant in
itself, oftentimes breaks the spell, as it were, and decision and action
follow. In our first chapter of this part we described some of these
methods for ripening desire into decision and action. This chapter we
shall devote to a consideration of different classes of individuals and
the best methods of inducing in them favorable decision and action.
THE IMPULSIVE MAN
The impulsive individual must be rushed. His emotions are very responsive,
easily aroused, and, as, a rule, when aroused take a strong hold upon him.
It is the impulsive person's tendency always to act quickly and to act in
response to his strong feelings. The impulsive man discharges his feelings
with speed in action, and they rapidly evaporate. Therefore, desire, when
aroused, must be quickly ripened into decision and action or it soon
cools, and it is too late. As a general rule, the impulsive person is well
supplied with fears, and if he is given time to think the matter over his
lack of courage begins to assert itself. Fears of possible or impossible
disaster begin to take form until the feelings of fear and apprehension
entirely overshadow the desires which have been created.
Mark Twain's story of his attendance at a missionary meeting is typical.
After the speaker had been talking for half an hour, Mark was in such
hearty sympathy with him and the cause for which he plead that he decided
to put one dollar in the collection box when it came around--but the man
kept on talking. At the end of three-quarters of an hour, Mark decided he
would give only fifty cents. At the end of an hour, he decided that he
would give nothing, and when, at the end of an hour and a half, the
collection box finally did come around, Mark took out a dollar to pay
himself for his pains.
INDICATIONS OF IMPULSIVENESS
Here are some of the indications of impulsiveness: blonde coloring,
especially if accompanied by a florid skin; small, round, retreating chin;
small size; fineness of texture; elasticity of consistency; short head;
short, smooth fingers, with tapering tips; a keen, alert, intense
expression. The impulsive person's movements are also impulsive. He walks
with a quick step, sometimes almost jerky. His gestures are quick, and if
he is very impulsive, he always has the air of starting to do things
before he has properly considered what he is going to do.
THE DELIBERATE MAN
The deliberate individual is the opposite of the impulsive. His feelings
may be strong, but he has them well under control. He may think slowly or
he may think quickly, but he always acts with deliberation and always
after he has thought very carefully. Once he has determined to act, he may
act far more energetically, and certainly more persistently, than the
impulsive person. The thing to remember about him is that he is
constitutionally opposed to hasty decision and action. Even when his mind
is made up and his desires are strong, he is very likely to postpone
action until his resolution has had an opportunity to harden. Oftentimes
these deliberate people are, or seem to be, incorrigible procrastinators.
It is useless to try to rush them. Give them time to think and consider.
INDICATIONS OF DELIBERATION
These are some of the indications of deliberation: dark coloring, with an
inclination to pallor; a long, strong, prominent chin and well-developed
jaw; large size; medium or coarse texture; hard consistency; a long,
square head; long, knotty fingers, with square tips; slow, deliberate,
rhythmical movements; a calm, poised expression, and either an absence of
gesture or gesture of a slow, graceful character.
Looking around amongst your friends and acquaintances, you will readily
see that few, if any, have all of the characteristics of impulsiveness in
a marked degree, and an equally small number all of the characteristics of
deliberation in a marked degree. The majority of people probably have a
combination of these characteristics--some indications of impulsiveness
and some of deliberation. In such cases, the question is answered by a
preponderance of evidence.
OBSTINATE PEOPLE
Some people are remarkably obstinate. If given their own way, they are
agreeable and amiable, but when opposed, they are exceedingly difficult to
persuade. If such persons are of the positive type and like to feel that
they are doing the thing and that no one else is influencing or coercing
them, then they must be handled by an adroit suggestion similar in
principle to that described in the case of the automobile salesman on page
380. On the other hand, in case these obstinate people are somewhat
negative in character, without much initiative or aggressiveness but with
a very large degree of stubbornness, then care must be taken not to
antagonize them or to oppose them--always gently to lead them and never to
try to drive them.
Argument is probably the most useless waste of energy possible in
attempting persuasion. Your own experience teaches you that argument only
leaves each party to the controversy more strongly convinced than ever
that he is right. This is true no matter what the character of the arguers
be. It is especially and most emphatically true when either one or the
other, or both, who participate in the argument are of the obstinate type.
The obstinate person may be amenable to reason if reasons are stated
calmly, tactfully, and without arousing his opposition. His emotions of
love, sympathy, generosity, desire for power and authority may be
successfully appealed to and he may be gently led to a decision by way of
minor and seemingly insignificant points.
INDICATIONS OF OBSTINACY
These are the indications of obstinacy: dark coloring; a prominent chin; a
head high in the crown; hard consistency; a rigidity of the joints,
especially of the joints in the hands and fingers. Perhaps the most
important and most easily recognized indication of a domineering,
obstinate, determined will is the length of line from the point of the
chin to the crown of the head. When this line greatly exceeds in length
that from the nape of the neck to the hair line at the top of the
forehead, you have an individual who desires to rule and bitterly resents
any attempt on the part of others to rule him.
The indications of a positive, aggressive, dominating will are these:
blonde color; prominent chin; a large, bony nose, high in the bridge;
high forehead, prominent at the brows and retreating as it rises; medium
or small size; medium fine, medium or coarse texture; hard consistency,
rigid joints; a head wide just above and also behind the ears and high in
the crown; a keen, penetrating, intense expression of the eyes, and
positive, decided tones of voice, movements and gestures.
The individual who is negatively stubborn may have a small or sway-back
nose; may have a high forehead, flat at the brows and prominent above; may
have elastic or soft consistency; may have a head narrow above and behind
the ears. Obstinacy will be shown in the length of line from the point of
chin to the crown of head and in the rigidity of the joints of the hands
and fingers.
THE INDECISIVE
The gentleman mentioned at the opening of this chapter belongs to the
indecisive class. They are like those of whom we sing in the old hymn:
"But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross that narrow sea
And linger, shivering, on the brink
And fear to launch away."
We have often watched boys in swimming. In every crowd there are always a
few of these timorous mortals who "shiver on the brink and fear to launch
away." As a general rule, some of their companions usually come up behind
them and give them a strong push, after which they are pleased and happy
enough in the water. We have seen boys who seemed to be waiting for
someone to push them in. No doubt they were. Certain it is that grown up
men and women who suffer in an agony of indecision usually like to have
someone take the matter out of their hands.
In the case of the gentleman to whom we have referred in the opening of
this chapter, the real estate agent one day walked into his office, laid a
contract down on the desk in front of him, and said, very impressively:
"This thing has got to be settled up to-day. Just sign your name right
there." And, with a feeling of intense relief and satisfaction, our friend
did sign his name "right there." To the best of our knowledge and belief,
he has been glad of it ever since.
HOW ONE SALESMAN OVERCAME INDECISION
We once knew a salesman of the positive, domineering type. He was selling
an educational work. Now, education is a thing everyone needs but few will
take the trouble and find the money to purchase unless they are very
strongly persuaded. Men who would readily spend fifty or seventy-five
dollars for a night's carousal will hesitate, and find objections, and
back and fill for weeks, or even for months, before they spend thirty or
forty dollars on a bit of education which they well know they ought to
have. Our friend, therefore, was met over and over again with the
temporizing excuse: "Well, I will have to think this matter over. I cannot
decide it to-day, but you come in and see me again." Almost without
exception, this excuse means that the man who makes it knows, deep down in
his heart, that he ought to make his decision--that he will profit by it
in many ways. He fully intends to make his decision some time, or else he
would not ask the salesman to come back and see him again. But he is a
little weak-kneed. He lacks something in decisiveness. Our friend treated
practically all of these indecisive prospects of his in the same way.
"I am sorry," he would say, "but I can't come back to see you again. My
time is limited. There are plenty of people who want to know about my
proposition and who are eager to take it. I must get around and see them.
I can't afford to go back on my track and spend time with people to whom I
have already explained the whole thing. You want this and you know you
want it. You intend to have it, or you would not ask me to come back and
see you again. There is no good reason why you should not have it now, and
you know there is not. Furthermore, if you do not take it now and I do not
come back to see you--and I won't--then you will never take it. That's
plain enough. You feel more like taking it right now, to-day, while I am
talking to you, than you will later, when you have forgotten half of what
I have said. If there is any question you want to ask about this, ask me
now and I will answer it. But there isn't any, because I have already
answered your questions. You are satisfied. Your mind is made up. There is
no reason for delay--just sign your name right there, please." And only
about four per cent of those to whom he talked that way refused to sign
when he told them to.
The indecisive person wants someone always to decide for him. If you are
trying to persuade such a person, then you must decide for him. Do it as
tactfully as you can. Sometimes these people want others to decide for
them and, at the same time, to make the situation look as if they had
decided for themselves. They realize their own indecisiveness. They are
ashamed of it, and they do not like to be reminded of it.
INDICATIONS OF INDECISION
These are the indications of indecisiveness: brunette coloring; moderately
square and prominent chin--sometimes a long, narrow chin; small, snub or
sway-back nose; high forehead, flat at the brows and prominent above; soft
consistency; great flexibility of the joints of hands and fingers; a head
narrow above and behind the ears and square in the back; a timid,
apprehensive expression; rather aimless movements and gestures, and a
small thumb, set high on the hand. Rare, indeed, is the person who has all
of these indications. So rare, in fact, that he is scarcely a normal being
if he has them all in a marked degree.
THE BALANCED TYPE
There are some people of an evenly balanced type. They are neither
violently impulsive nor ponderously deliberate. They are interested in
facts and pass their judgment upon them, but they are also interested in
theories and willing to listen to them. They are practical and
matter-of-fact, but they also have ideals. They have clean, powerful
emotions, fairly well controlled, and yet, when their judgment has been
satisfied, they are perfectly willing to act in response to their
feelings. They are neither easy, credulous and impulsive nor suspicious,
obstinate and procrastinating. The way to persuade them is first to
present the facts and show them the reasons why. Then, by suggestion and
word-painting, to stimulate their desire and give them an opportunity to
decide and act. Such people are medium in color, with forehead, nose,
mouth and chin inclining to the straight line; medium in size; medium in
build; fine or medium fine in texture; elastic in consistency; moderately
high, wide, long, square head; a pleasant but calm and sensible expression
of face and eyes; quiet, well-timed walk and gestures; well-modulated
voice.
THE EASY MARK
When the person to be persuaded is indecisive and also has large,
wide-open, credulous eyes; a hopeful, optimistic, turned-up nose, and a
large, round dome of a head just above the temples, he is the living image
of the champion easy mark. What he needs is not so much to be persuaded as
to be protected against himself. He, and the greedy, grasping, cunning but
short-sighted individual, who is always trying to get something for
nothing, constitute that very large class of people of whom it has been
said that there is one born every minute.
ADVANTAGE OF PERSUADER'S POSITION
In closing this chapter, we cannot forego the opportunity for a word of
counsel to you in your efforts to persuade others. Remember that if you do
your work well in securing favorable attention, arousing interest, and
creating desire, the person with whom you are dealing is like a man
standing on one foot, not quite knowing which way he will go. Even if he
is more or less obstinate and should be on both his feet, he is at least
standing still and considering which direction he will take. If this is
not true, then you have failed to create a desire, or, having created it,
have not augmented it until it is strong enough. But, granting that this
is true, do you not see what an advantage it gives you? The man who is
standing on one foot, undecided, is quickly pulled or pushed in the way
you want him to go if you yourself vigorously desire it. Even the man who
stands obstinately on both feet is at a disadvantage if he does not know
which way to go, and you very decidedly know which way you want him to go.
THE VALUE OF COURAGE
We have seen more sales skillfully brought up to the point of desire and
then lost through the indecision, the wavering, the fear, or the
hesitation of the salesman than for any other one cause. Of all of the
qualities and characteristics which contribute to success in the
persuasion of others, there is, perhaps, none more powerful than that
courage which gives calmness, surety of touch, decisiveness, and
unwavering, unhesitating action.
Some years ago we saw a huge mob surround a building in which a political
speaker was trying to talk upon an unpopular subject. The longer the mob
remained waiting for their victim to come out, the more violent and the
more abusive it became. There was an angry hum, sounding above the
occasional cries and shouts, which betokened trouble. Presently a large
man scrambled upon the pedestal of a statue in front of the building and
began to harangue the crowd. He argued with them, he pleaded with them, he
threatened them, he tried to cajole them. But through it all he could
scarcely make himself heard and the mob remained solidly packed about the
door. Then the police were brought and attempted to force a passageway for
the escape of the speaker, whose address inside the building was nearing a
close. But the police were powerless and some of them were badly hurt.
Then a quiet little man came down the steps of the building. He was
dressed in ordinary clothing and was unarmed. His open hands hung idly at
his side. He stood near the bottom step, where he could just look over the
heads of the crowd. He stood perfectly still, perfectly calm, and yet with
a look of such iron resolution on his countenance as we have seldom seen.
Those next him grew strangely quiet. Then the semi-circle of silence
spread until the entire mob stood as if holding its breath waiting to see
what this man would do.
"Make a passageway there," he said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice;
"there is a carriage coming through."
Instantly the crowd parted, a carriage was driven up to the steps, the
speaker came down and entered it, and it was driven rapidly away, followed
only by a few hisses and cat-calls.
When all is said and done, that is the spirit which secures the decision
and action of others.
CHAPTER V
EFFICIENT AND SATISFACTORY SERVICE
Marshall Nyall was an excellent workman. He was keen, quick of
comprehension, practical in his judgment, and unusually resourceful. He
was energetic, industrious, and skillful. Being blessed with considerable
idealism, he took pride and pleasure in putting a fine artistic finish on
everything he did. He studied his work in all its aspects and was alert in
finding ways of saving time, materials, energy, and money. He was,
therefore, personally efficient. As an employee of the Swift Motor
Company, he rose rapidly until he became superintendent. In that position
he made a good record. So valuable was he that the White Rapids Motor
Company coveted him and its president and general manager began to lay
plans to entice him away. Negotiations were begun and continued over a
period of weeks. Larger and larger grew the inducements offered by the
White Rapids Motor Company until, finally, Nyall's employers felt that
they could not afford to meet them any longer, and this highly efficient
man became works manager for the White Rapids Motor Company, at a very
greatly increased salary.
Now, the White Rapids Motor Company was larger and wealthier than the
Swift Motor Company. The position of works manager was a more important
and responsible position than that of superintendent. Nyall was
accordingly delighted and had high ambitions as to his career with his new
employers.
HOW THE TROUBLE STARTED
"You have a reputation," said the president and general manager to Nyall,
"for efficiency. Efficiency is what we want in the works here, and if you
can put these factories on as efficient a basis as you did the shops of
the Swift Motor Company, your future is assured."
"I can do that all right, Mr. Burton," Nyall replied confidently,
"provided I get the right kind of co-operation from the front office."
"Call on us for anything you want, Nyall," returned the president sharply.
He was a proud, positive man. He loved power. He had the ability to lead
and to rule, and he resented even the slightest imputation that any lack
of co-operation on his part might defeat his plans for efficient
management.
A few days later Nyall made some changes in the plan of routing the work
through the factories. These changes were rather radical and sweeping and
necessitated a considerable initial expense. Naturally, Burton was not
long in hearing about it. Instantly he summoned his works manager.
"Haven't you begun your work here in a rather drastic manner?" he
inquired. "Surely you have not studied this situation carefully enough in
a few days to justify you in making such sweeping changes in the system
which we have built up here after years of patient study and research. I
have given the routing of the work through the factories days and nights
of careful study, Nyall, during the years that we have been standardizing
it. I believe that it was just as nearly perfect as it can be just as we
had it."
"Your system was all wrong, and I can prove it to you," returned Nyall.
"Just wait a minute until I bring you in my charts."
RUBBING IT IN
Stepping into his office, he secured a number of charts and also several
sheets of tabulated figures. The charts were beautifully executed and in a
most admirable manner made graphically clear the sound reasoning upon
which Nyall had ordered the changes made. The tabulated figures proved
that his reasoning had been correct. He was positive, forceful, and
insistent in driving home his argument and in compelling his superior to
admit their force and cogency. When it was all admitted and Burton,
fighting to the last ditch, had been over-whelmed, Nyall's unconcealed air
of triumph was keenly and painfully exasperating to the defeated man.
This was only the first of the clashes between these two positive minds.
Ordinarily, perhaps, Burton would have preferred efficiency in the factory
to the triumph of his own opinions and ideas, much as it hurt him to be
found in error, But Nyall's disposition to wring the last drop of personal
triumph out of every victory was more than the good man could endure. With
his highly-strung nature, and goaded as he was by intense irritation, the
passion to prove Nyall in the wrong overrode all other considerations.
Thus he began to "cut off his nose to spite his face," as Nyall expressed
it--to conspire against Nyall's success.
If you have ever witnessed a fight for supremacy between two positive,
powerful, high-strung natures, with unusual resources of intellect and
capacity on both sides, we do not need to describe to you what happened in
the White Rapids Motor Company during the months that followed. Nyall
simply could not understand why Burton should jeopardize the success, and
even the solvency, of his enterprise by plotting against his own works
manager. To his friends he confided: "Honestly, I think the old man is
going crazy. The things he says and the things he does are not the product
of a sane, normal mind." Similarly, Burton could not understand, to save
his life, why Nyall should jeopardize the brilliant future which lay
before him "by bucking his president and general manager," as he put it.
"It is rule or ruin with him," he told his friends. "I never saw a more
stubborn man in my life. He is crazy to have his own way. He wants to take
the bit in his teeth, and if he were permitted to do it, he would run away
and smash himself and everything else."
BOTH BELLIGERENT AND STUBBORN
Why did not Nyall resign or, in default of his resignation, why did not
Burton discharge him? Such action was obvious for both men from a mere
common sense point of view, under the circumstances. The answer is that
both men were so obstinate and so set upon winning the fight upon which
they had entered, that neither of them would give up. It all ended when
the board of directors finally took a hand and removed Nyall in order to
save the institution from shipwreck.
Naturally enough, the word went out that Nyall could not stand prosperity;
that when placed in a position of authority and responsibility, he had
lost his head and had nearly wrecked the concern for which he worked. He
found that he could not go back to his old position with the Swift Motor
Company and that his reputation had suffered so seriously that he had to
be satisfied for a long time with a minor position in a rather obscure
concern.
THE KEY TO THE DIFFICULTY
Nyall was efficient--unusually efficient--but he did not give satisfaction
with the White Rapids Motor Company. Perhaps we do not need to point to
the moral of this tale. If Nyall had understood his superior and had
conducted himself accordingly, he might himself have been president and
general manager of the White Rapids Motor Company to-day. He would have
known that Burton was not a man to be brow-beaten, not a man to be defied,
not a man to be proven in the wrong. With a little tact and diplomacy, he
could have effected all of the changes he wished without even the
semblance of a clash with his chief. He might even have insisted upon the
first ones he advocated without serious trouble if he had done it in the
right way and if he had not permitted his feeling of personal triumph to
show itself so plainly.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
In the first place, if he had known Burton as he should, he would have
gone to him before making any changes and said: "Mr. Burton, I understand
that you have given a great deal of time and thought to the routing of
work through the factories; that you have personally directed the building
up of the present system. I usually begin my work by studying the routing,
but if you feel satisfied with this routing, as a result of your study;
and experience, I will devote my time to something else." Approached in
this way, Burton would unquestionably have directed the new works manager
to make a complete study of the routing system and to suggest any
possible improvements.
This story is typical of many others which we have observed more or less
in detail. Nyall was a great success in the Swift Motor Company because
the chief executive of that company was a little mild, good-natured,
easy-going fellow, who not only needed the spur and stimulus of a positive
nature like Nyall's, but was quite frankly delighted with it. If Nyall had
approached him with questions and suggestions and a spirit of constant
bowing to his authority, he would have been as exasperated in his own
quiet way as Burton was with the opposite treatment. His constant
injunction to his subordinates was: "Do not come to me with details. Use
your own judgment and initiative. Go ahead. Do it in your own way. I hold
you responsible only for results."
ALWAYS "SOME OTHER WAY"
In his "Message to Garcia," Elbert Hubbard has the following to say:
"You, reader, put this matter to a test:
"You are sitting now in your office--six clerks are within call. Summon
any one of them and make this request: 'Please look in the encyclopedia
and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio.'
"Will the clerk quietly say, 'Yes, sir,' and go do the task?
"On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask
one or more of the following questions:
"'Who was he?'
"'Which encyclopedia?'
"'Where is the encyclopedia?'
"'Was I hired for that?'
"'Don't you mean Bismarck?'
"'What's the matter with Charlie doing it?'
"'Is he dead?'
"'Is there any hurry?'
"'Shan't I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?'
"'What do you want to know for?'
"And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions,
and explained why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the
other clerks to help him try to find Garcia--and then come back and tell
you there is no such man. Of course, I may lose my bet, but, according to
the Law of Average, I will not."
Now, there are many executives so constituted that they are not only
willing, but glad, to explain the why and the wherefore of the orders they
give. When they give the order, they are oftentimes willing to listen to
suggestions, and oftentimes to adopt them. These are men of the
deliberate, calm, reflective, rather mild type, with only a moderate
development of the crown of the head which shows a love of authority.
Oftentimes, also, they are men of the erratic, impulsive type who realize
their impulsiveness and are rather glad than otherwise to be picked up by
queries and suggestions from their subordinates. But for the man of the
positive, incisive, decided, domineering type these questions and
suggestions, this attitude which proposes that something else ought to be
done, or that the thing ought to be done in "some other way," are
exasperating in the extreme. Since this is the usual type of man to be
found in industrial business, it is not strange that so many employees,
perhaps efficient enough otherwise, fail to give satisfaction. It is
because they seemingly cannot overcome their itch to do the thing "some
other way." There is the best of all psychological reasons why every
employee should read and take to heart Elbert Hubband's "Message to
Garcia."
Over and over again, young men and young women have come to us saying: "I
wish you would tell me why I cannot hold a position. I know I do the work
well enough, but, somehow or other, I seem to be unfortunate. I have
trouble with everyone I work for and cannot remain in any one position for
very long." In practically every case the trouble has been that the young
man or the young woman did not understand the simple principles of human
nature.
HOW TO TAKE DISCIPLINE
Many sensitive souls do not understand that a wide-headed man of the bony
and muscular type, with high, retreating forehead, prominent brows, large
nose, high in the bridge, prominent teeth and mouth, and somewhat
retreating chin, is intensely energetic, practical and impatient--that he
wants to see things done--that he demands results and cannot wait for
them. He is inclined to be nervous and irritable. When things go wrong, or
he thinks they go wrong, he says things, says them with brutal frankness
and considerable vigor. He may even use profanity and call names. He is
especially impatient with and exasperated by excuses, since his passion is
for results. An excuse to him is like a red rag flaunted in a bull's face.
His irritation is relieved by speech. Afterward he passes on and probably
forgets all about the incident. Certainly he does not hold it against the
employee personally.
If, in addition to his other characteristics, this man also has a high
crown, he is inclined to be domineering and exacting. Since his whole
intention in his sharp speeches is to stimulate his employees to greater
efficiency, and since the farthest thing from his thoughts or his
intentions is to hurt their personal feelings, there is probably nothing
that will so quickly and thoroughly arouse his resentment as any
expression, word or act of wounded pride on the part of his employee.
Most employees make the serious mistake of taking criticism or censure as
a personal matter. They should reflect that their employer has no interest
in hurting their feelings--that what he wants is efficient service,
profitable not only to himself but to the employee, and that, according to
his type and his knowledge, he is taking the best possible means to secure
it.
When an employee enters an organization, he becomes an integral part of a
complicated service-rendering and profit-making machine. If he has any
tender personal feelings, he should wrap them up carefully in an envelope
of indifference and lock them away safely in the strong box of ambition.
Then he is perfectly willing to let his employer call him a blockhead,
provided the result is increased efficiency and profit.
TOO MUCH DIGNITY
A young man of our acquaintance once went to work as assistant to the
manager of an insurance company. This young man was quiet, hard-working,
dependable, and efficient. With his self-effacing modesty and the
remarkable accuracy and care with which he attended to every detail of his
work, he would have made an ideal assistant to most employers. The manager
of this insurance company, however, was jovial, friendly, social, witty,
and companionable. At first he was delighted with his new assistant. As
time went on, however, the young man's solemnity, his taciturnity, and the
quiet, dignified way in which he permitted all attempts at sociability and
jocularity to pass over his head, as it were, unnoticed, began to get on
his employer's nerves.
"If I don't get that young man out of the office, I will either murder him
or commit suicide," he told us. "Efficient? Lord, yes! I never knew
anybody so damnably efficient. Dependable? He is so dependable that he is
uncanny. I would rather have a human being around who is willing to smoke
a cigar with me once in a while, to crack a joke, or at least to laugh at
my jokes. Just to break the monotony, I would be perfectly willing to have
him make a few mistakes, to forget something. I have lots of faults--too
many, I guess, to be comfortable around such a paragon of perfection as
that boy."
Now, the truth of the matter was, as we well knew, that this young man,
while serious-minded and efficient, had a keen sense of humor, appreciated
a good joke, and was at times very merry with his own companions. He had
in his mind, however, a certain ideal conduct for a business man. And to
the best of his ability, he lived up to this ideal, no matter what the
personality of his employer.
"FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT"
Many employees make the mistake of attempting familiarity with employers
whose dignity is largely developed and whose sociability and sense of
humor are only moderate or even deficient. The man whose head shows its
longest line from point of chin to crown, who has a long face with long,
vertical lines, whose lips are rather thin, whose forehead is rather
narrow and somewhat retreating, and whose back-head is only moderately
developed or even deficient, is not a man to slap on the back. He will
resent any familiarity or any jocular attempt to draw him down on a plane
of equality with his employees. If such a man is also fine-textured, he is
very sensitive and must be treated with deference and respect. If he has a
short upper lip, he is amenable to flattery, but the flattery must be
delicate and deferential.
Even when these characteristics are not extreme and the habitual attitude
of an employer is one of geniality, with a certain amount of jocularity,
employees should be on their guard, especially if the executive has a
square head behind. Such a man, like Cousin Egbert, in Harry Leon Wilson's
story, "Ruggles of Red Gap," "can be pushed just so far." It is dangerous
to try to push him any further. He has a very true and proper sense of
dignity and, while he is perfectly willing to be sociable and to live with
his employees upon terms of friendliness, he knows well how to check any
exuberance which tends to trench upon familiarity.
THE "NAPOLEONIC" EXECUTIVE
There is a type of employer who has a high, well-rounded, long head; his
head is also wide above the ears, but rather narrow back of the ears. He
is usually light in complexion, fine textured--a good combination of the
bony and muscular type and the fat man type. This man's eyes are the
neither round, wide-open eyes of simple credulity nor the long, narrow,
somewhat oblique slits of secretiveness, avarice, shrewdness and
suspicion. His face tends to roundness, curves and dimples, and his lips
are rather full. His head is especially high and dome-shaped just above
the temples and behind the hair line. His chin may be fairly well formed
or it may be narrow and retreating. If it is of the narrow and retreating
variety, then some of the characteristics are accentuated.
This man is a man of intense enthusiasm, great energy, a desire to
accomplish things and to be the head of whatever he undertakes. He is
eager, responsive, emotional, ambitious, and erratic. He is often
brilliant, nearly always resourceful, conceives large projects, attempts
big things, makes friends with important people, and often secures a very
enviable reputation, at least for a time. But this man has his faults. He
is emotional and enthusiastic. He throws himself intensely into the
accomplishment of one ambitious plan after another. He has not the
calmness of dispassionate judgment and the deliberateness necessary to be
a good judge of men. He lacks real courage and therefore attempts to cover
up his deficiency by bluff and bluster. Because of his poor judgment in
regard to human nature, he frequently selects employees on the impulse of
the moment, absolutely without reference to their fitness for the work he
wants them to do. The ruling emotion which prompts him in selection may be
any one of a dozen. We have seen men like this select important
lieutenants because of their personal attractiveness, because someone else
wanted them, because of similarity of tastes in matters wholly irrelevant,
because the fellows knew how to flatter, out of sympathy for their
families, and, in one pathetic case, because the young man thus chosen had
painstakingly read through an immense set of books supposed to be
representative of the world's best literature.
INJUSTICE TO EMPLOYEES
In many cases, enthusiasm and optimism on the part of such executives have
placed men in positions far beyond their capacity and loaded them with
responsibilities for which they had no aptitudes. Oftentimes such rapid
promotion and such sudden increase of income have utterly turned the head
of the victim, setting him back years in his normal development and his
pursuit of success.
Because the sudden infatuations of such executives are based upon emotion
and not judgment, they flicker out as quickly as the emotion evaporates.
Then ensues a period of suspicion, oftentimes wholly unjust. Because the
executive lacks real courage, every word and every act of the employee
makes him afraid that there is something sinister and dangerous behind it.
This is accentuated by the fact that, deep down in his own heart, the
executive knows that he does not understand men. When this condition of
affairs arises, both the executive and his employee are utterly miserable
unless the employee, being a man of judgment, and understanding the
situation in its essence, has the good sense either to bring the executive
willy-nilly to a complete readjustment of their relations or to resign.
Oftentimes, however, the employee has a larger salary than he ever
received before--he also feels certain that if he resigns, he cannot
secure so large a salary in any other place--and so he hangs on, hoping
against hope that the attitude of his superior will change. The executive,
on his part, feels that he ought to discharge the employee. He is not
satisfied with him. He is suspicious of him. He is afraid of him. He
realizes that he has used bad judgment in selecting him. But he lacks the
courage to discharge the man and oftentimes, for this reason, resorts to a
series of petty persecutions in an attempt to make him resign.
HOW TO STEER A DIFFICULT COURSE
The employee who is suddenly taken up, flattered, and offered an unusually
good position by a man of this type would do well to hesitate long before
accepting. If he does accept, he should take care that he does not attempt
anything beyond his powers and that he does not accept a larger salary
than he is able to earn. Once in his position, he should be modest,
efficient, and do his best to keep out of cliques and inside politics. At
the same time, he should take great care not to offend those who are
powerful. The employees of every "Napoleonic" executive are, by the very
nature of the organization, forced into politics. Tenure of office,
promotion, and increase in pay all depend, not upon real service--although
real service counts; not upon efficiency and merit--although these also
count; but primarily upon the whims and caprices of an employer of this
type. Every employee of any importance, therefore, does his best, first,
to keep his own relations to his employer on a frank, easy, confidential
basis; second, in so far as in him lies, to be at peace with all his
fellow employees. We have seen some of the most valuable men of their kind
we have ever met suddenly discharged without a word of explanation by
employers of this type. The trouble was that someone who could get a
hearing carried a bit of scandal, perhaps without the slightest foundation
in fact, to the ever-suspicious ears of the boss. The boss, because he
lacked the courage to admit that he had listened to such gossip, removed a
man who had served him satisfactorily for years without a word of warning,
and without a hearing.
Unless you understand human nature, and if you are at all responsive to
appreciation, there is probably no greater pleasure than to work for such
a man as we have described, so long as the sunshine of his favor falls
upon you. But, as a general rule, we find their employees anything but
happy. Almost without exception they feel that their tenure of office
hangs by the slenderest of threads and that it is necessary to regard all
of their fellow employees with suspicion. Some men enjoy working in this
fevered atmosphere. If you are one of them, there are excellent
opportunities for you in the employ of a man of this type. But you will do
well always to have a good safe place prepared in which to land if you
should suddenly be dropped.
THE BLUFFER
In all of your dealings with the man who lacks real courage, remember that
his blustering and show of bravery is only an assumption to cover up his
deficiencies and that if you yourself have the courage to face him and, in
the language of the street, "to call his bluff," he will quiet down and be
perfectly amenable to reason. But be sure to observe your man carefully
and accurately before trying to call his bluff.
SUCCESS AS AN EMPLOYEE
The ultimate success of every employee depends, first of all, upon his
selection of the kind of work for which he is pre-eminently fitted;
second, his selection, so far as possible, of the kind of employer and
superior executive under whom he can do his best work; third, upon his
study and mastery of every possible resource of knowledge and training
connected with the technical and practical aspects of his work; fourth,
upon his careful and scientific development of all of the best and most
valuable assets in his character; fifth, upon a thorough understanding and
application of the principles of personal efficiency; sixth, upon an
accurate knowledge of the character, disposition and personal
peculiarities of his employer or employers and superior executives;
seventh, upon an intelligent and diplomatic adjustment of his methods of
work, his personal appearance, his personal behavior, his relationship
with his fellow employees and with his employers, to the end of building
up and maintaining permanently the highest possible degree of confidence
in him and satisfaction with his service.
PART FOUR
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF CHARACTER ANALYSIS
CHAPTER I
THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF CHARACTER ANALYSIS
A few years ago we were content to guess, to follow tradition, and to
charge up to the caprices of fate or an all-wise Providence the failures
we experienced as a result of our ignorance. Then someone, less bound by
tradition than the average, discovered that exact knowledge was obtainable
about most subjects. Scientific research took the place of guess-work or
mere haphazard leaps in the dark. We began to observe, classify, measure,
weigh, test, and record, instead of guess. Thus science was born.
As far back as human records go men have made observations upon others,
have formed certain conclusions as a result of these observations, and
have recorded them. Some were accurate and valuable; others merely
ludicrous and misleading. Tens of thousands of men and women have
attempted to analyze human character, but most of them became lost in a
maze of apparent contradictions and gave up in despair, content to follow
impression and intuition. Though they became discouraged and abandoned the
field, each of these workers contributed something of value to the
subject, and to-day we have a science of character analysis exact enough
to add very greatly to our wisdom in dealing with humanity and its
problems.
LIMITATIONS OF THE SCIENCE
We do not wish you to misunderstand our claims for the science. Character
analysis is not a science in the mathematical sense. As we said in our
introduction, we cannot place a man on the scales and determine that he
has so many milligrams of industry, or apply measurements and prove that
he has so many centimeters of talent for salesmanship. Nor can we, using
the method of the chemist, apply the litmus to his stream of consciousness
and get his psychical reaction in a demonstrable way. We are glad we
cannot, else humanity might lose the fine arts of coquetry and conquest.
Perhaps we never shall be able to do these things, but that is small cause
for discouragement. What we do claim for the science of character analysis
is that it is classified knowledge based upon sound principles; that it is
as accurate as the science of medicine; that it can be imparted to others;
and, best of all, that anyone can test it for himself beyond any question
of doubt.
TESTS SHOW UNTRAINED JUDGMENT UNRELIABLE
"Oh, I'm a pretty good judge of men," people say to us. We have heard this
declaration thousands of times in the last seventeen years. Occasionally
it was, no doubt, true, but more often not, even when the statement was
made in the greatest sincerity. So we determined to test the ability of
the public to analyze men. The first test appeared in a number of
magazines, giving a profile and full-face view, showing the hands of a
young man. A few simple questions were asked concerning him, such as
these:
"Would you employ this man?
"If so, would you employ him as salesman, executive, cashier, clerk,
chemist, mechanic?
"Is he healthy, honest, industrious, aggressive?
"Would you choose him as a friend?"
Of 5,000 replies but 4.1 per cent were right or nearly right. Some of the
replies were astounding. One manager of a big business wrote: "This man
would be an exceptionally honest and trustworthy cashier or treasurer."
One sales manager replied: "I would like to have this man on my sales
force. He would make a hummer of a salesman, if I am any judge of men. His
hands are identical with my own," etc., etc. But the climax was reached
with this letter from a young lady: "He would be a devoted husband and
father. I would like him as a friend."
Our own analysis of this man, from photographs on a test, was as follows:
"We would not employ this man.
"He is not healthy.
"He is intelligent.
"He is not honest.
"He is not industrious.
"He is aggressive in a disagreeable way.
"We would not choose him as a friend.
"John Doe is a natural mechanic who has had very little training in that
line of work. Being exceedingly keen and intelligent, without right moral
principles, he has used his natural mechanical ability in illegitimate
lines."
Here is a brief sketch of John Doe, furnished by a gentleman who
befriended him and has followed his career for years:
"John is thirty-one years of age and has just been released from a term in
Sing Sing Prison. The crime for which he served sentence was burglary. He
made a skeleton key with which he gained access to a loft where were
stored valuable goods. He stole three thousand dollars worth of these from
his employer. He admits that he has committed other crimes of forgery and
theft. Perhaps the cleverest of these was forgery which was never
discovered. He is exceedingly friendly and makes friends easily. He is,
however, very erratic and irritable in disposition and often quarrelsome.
He is a fair example of a common type which has intelligence and skill but
has not learned to direct his activities along constructive lines."
A more complicated advertisement followed this first one, giving the
portraits of nine men, each successful in his chosen work because well
fitted for it by natural aptitude as well as by training. People were
asked to state the vocation of each. Out of 4,876 replies but three were
correct.
SOME FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS
Surely, when the untrained judgment of intelligent people goes so wide of
the mark, it is worth while to inquire whether or not science can come to
the rescue. Perhaps a brief examination of some well-established truths
about human beings will aid in finding an answer to our query.
The science of character analysis by the observational method is based
upon three very simple scientific truths:
First, man's body is the product of evolution through countless ages, and
is what it is to-day as the result of the combined effect upon it of
heredity and environment.
Second, man's mind is also the product of evolution through countless
ages, and is what it is to-day as the result of the effect upon it of the
same heredity and the same environment as have affected his body.
Third, man's body and man's mind profoundly affect each other in all of
their actions and reactions and have affected each other through all the
centuries of their simultaneous evolution.
EVOLUTION OF BLONDES AND BRUNETTES
Men's bodies differ from one another in many ways. A little scientific
investigation soon proves to us that these differences are the result of
differences in heredity and environment. Men's minds differ from one
another in countless ways. Scientific investigation also proves that these
mental differences, or differences in character, are also the result of
differences in heredity and environment.