{"id":1263,"date":"2019-09-12T18:44:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T22:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2022-03-08T09:36:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T13:36:30","slug":"48-laws-of-power-law-26-keep-your-hands-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/48-laws-of-power-law-26-keep-your-hands-clean\/","title":{"rendered":"Law 26: Keep Your Hands Clean (48 Laws of Power)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview of Law #26: <\/strong>Keep Your Hands Clean <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll inevitably make mistakes or need to take care of messy problems. But it\u2019s imperative to keep your hands clean. Find scapegoats to blame and use cat\u2019s paws or fixers to handle problems while disguising your involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sub-Law #1 of Law 26: Cover Up Your Mistakes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Law 26 of the 48 Laws of Power<\/a>, your good name and reputation depend more on what you conceal than on what you reveal. Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are truly clever manage to hide them, and to make sure someone else is blamed. A convenient scapegoat should always be kept around for such moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mistakes themselves don\u2019t hurt powerful people \u2014 it\u2019s how they deal with them that counts<\/strong>. Making excuses<\/a> or offering apologies are the worst possible responses. Excuses never satisfy anyone, and apologies dig a deeper hole for you. They raise questions about your competence (maybe you\u2019ve made other mistakes too?), intentions, and motives. 
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The more quickly you can shift attention to someone else the better. You need a scapegoat<\/strong> to keep your hands clean.
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The practice of using a scapegoat has a long history <\/strong>\u2014 Hebrew priests transferred the sins of the people to a goat (originating the term \u201cscapegoat\u201d), which would be abandoned in the wilderness. In some civilizations, a human scapegoat would be sacrificed to the gods.
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It works for both the person using the scapegoat and the intended audience because people are accustomed to blame-shifting<\/strong>. People naturally look outwardly to blame others rather than inwardly to explain their mistakes. And when the scapegoating is done by others, they accept the scapegoat\u2019s guilt.
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Of course, modern leaders who don\u2019t want to be seen as fallible continue to use scapegoats today. When Mao\u2019s Cultural Revolution failed, he blamed his personal secretary and a high-ranking party member. FDR wanted to maintain a reputation of fairness and transparency, so he often used his secretary, Louis Howe, to commit dirty tricks and take the blame if they came to light (a role Howe accepted).
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Other things to know about using scapegoats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n