It's Rishi

No matter how technologically sophisticated the mediums for human communication become, ultimately success in business will rely on your ability to interact with people. Whether you’re trying to raise money from investors, sell your product to a prospective customer, build an effective online marketing program, or lead a team of employees to success, a fundamental understanding of human nature is essential.

So I decided that there was no better way to start my own personal MBA reading curriculum than by reading this book. Not only has it sold something like 20 million copies since it was first published in 1937 (yes almost 70 years ago), but it has been recommended by several people that I respect highly. After just the first few pages of reading, I knew that I had indeed made a fantastic pick.

Carnegie, and his team, put an unprecedented amount of research into this book. They searched all the respected published works on the topic, interviewed accomplished businessman (i.e. Charles Schwab, Andrew Carnegie, and others), studied the behavior of men famous for their handling of people (i.e. Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, and others), and even studied philosophy. The lessons found in the book represent the recurring themes that Carnegie, and his team, found across all their research.

Some quotes:

The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important

Talk to people about themselves and they will listen for hours

The unvarnished truth is that almost all the people you meet feel themselves superior to you in some way and a sure way to their hearts is to let them realize in some subtle way that you recognize their importance, and recognize it sincerely.

A person usually has two reasons for doing a thing: one that sounds good and a real one. The person himself will think of the real reason. You don’t need to emphasize that. But all of us, being idealists at heart, like to think of motives that sound good. So, in order to change people, appeal to the nobler motives.

You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it

You will never get into trouble by admitting that you may be wrong. That will stop all argument and inspire your opponent to be just as fair and open and broadminded as you are. It will make him want to admit that he, too, may be wrong.

Many of the ideas set forth in the book you might read and think “oh yeah, everybody knows that!”. And you may be right. However, I can all but guarantee that while you may have this knowledge, you are not utilizing it in your everyday life to be more skilled in people relations. That’s where this book really shines. Carnegie not only tells you what you need to know, but included numerous examples of how the technique has been used in real life situations. These examples not only help you to relate to the material, but also make the book very enjoyable to read.

The key thing to remember about this book is it defines a new approach to dealing with people in nearly every situation one encounters. This is a very difficult thing to embrace because even though it makes a lot of sense on paper, after decades of human interaction, each of our approach towards people has become all but set in stone. Don’t expect to just read this book cover-to-cover and be a changed man. It will take work. Carnegie suggests some studying approaches in the book’s preface.

I really would encourage everyone to go out and pick up a copy of this book. If you even are able to employ just one or two of the components outlined in the book, you will be more likely to succeed. As promised in my earlier post, I have put together my own “cliff notes” for the book. I’m still deciding whether or not I will post it up on the blog, but if you want a copy of it, shoot me an e-mail (click “Contact” at the top of this page) and I’ll hook you up. However, even if you do read my notes, I still absolutely recommend you do yourself a favor by finding a copy of this book and studying it.