Question: do I have enough power to pull this off?
Hello guys,
a key question before trying to influence someone or asking something from him/her is:
Do I have enough power (in this situation) to pull this off?
It means:
In this situation, how bad does the person in front of me want what I provide to him/her?
Is this person willing to exchange what I provide with what I want?
Of course, passive value (aka status, beauty, etc.) matters.
Example: you want a friend to come to a party on Saturday night. However he’s going to see his GF on this night. How much does he want to spend time with his GF vs having fun at a party?
Of course in this example he could do both. However it shows that you’re offering somebody with a choice. If what you’re offering is not on the same level, then you have not enough power over him in this situation.
That is why the more value you have to offer the more power you have. That is, given that the value you have to offer is what the person is looking for. You will have trouble trading anything of value with eskimos if all you have to offer is ice.
What do you think?