{"id":61613,"date":"2022-02-21T21:26:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T01:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=61613"},"modified":"2022-03-07T11:22:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T15:22:52","slug":"how-to-know-your-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why do they say “know your enemies”? How does knowing your enemy help you get the upper hand over your opponent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. When you know your opponent\u2019s secrets, you can predict his behavior and control him. You can enlist spies to gather intelligence for you, but it\u2019s better to be a spy yourself. Adopt a friendly manner and you\u2019ll get people to spill their plans and weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s why and how to know your enemy<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Why You Should Know Your Enemies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Duveen<\/a>, the most successful art dealer of the early 1900s, is a good illustration of the reasons for knowing your enemies. Duveen had a monopoly on selling art to millionaire collectors, but he didn\u2019t have Andrew Mellon as a client and set out to remedy that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He secretly began paying several of Mellon\u2019s staff for information on Mellon\u2019s tastes, ambitions, and habits, as well as his travel plans. Once he knew what made Mellon tick, he set up accidental meetings, showing up where he knew Mellon would be. Joseph Duveen showcased his charm and knowledge of art, and pretended to share Mellon\u2019s tastes. He even rearranged his personal gallery to reflect Mellon\u2019s tastes and then invited him over to see it. Mellon loved the collection, admired Joseph Duveen\u2019s taste, and soon became his most lucrative client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To wield power as Joseph Duveen did, you need to understand others: their intentions, goals, and ambitions, as well as secrets, weaknesses, and ulterior motives. This knowledge enables you to predict what they\u2019ll do in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, most people won\u2019t intentionally tell you these things; you need a way to ferret out the information without their knowing it. Be friendly and listen. It\u2019s easy and effective to pose as a friend<\/a> while collecting information. Say little while getting others to do the talking\u2014and listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some additional tips on how to know your enemy: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially pay attention at social gatherings. P<\/strong>eople\u2019s guards are down, they\u2019re drinking, and they\u2019re trying to be friendly. Say little while showing great interest in others, and they\u2019ll talk freely. People will interpret your interest as friendship, and you\u2019ll build allies as well as learning secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be too obvious in probing for information<\/strong>, however, or you\u2019ll arouse suspicions. Use friendly chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set traps.<\/strong> You can say untrue things and then watch for people\u2019s reactions, which can tell you what you want to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretend to share confidences. <\/strong>When you offer fake confidence, pretending to bare your soul, others will respond with real confidences. Another conversational trick is to strongly disagree with or contradict someone \u2014 they\u2019ll get agitated and say more than they intended to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information you gather from spying is power because it enables you to predict how others will act in the future, and you can plan accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do they say “know your enemies”? How does knowing your enemy help you get the upper hand over your opponent? Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. When you know your opponent\u2019s secrets, you can predict his behavior and control him. You can enlist spies to gather intelligence for you, but it\u2019s better to be a spy yourself. Adopt a friendly manner and you\u2019ll get people to spill their plans and weaknesses. Here’s why and how to know your enemy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-61613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-48-laws-of-power","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"776\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\"},\"wordCount\":508,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The 48 Laws of Power\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\",\"name\":\"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg\",\"width\":776,\"height\":519},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend - Shortform Books","description":"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend","og_description":"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":776,"height":519,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend","datePublished":"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/"},"wordCount":508,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","keywords":["The 48 Laws of Power"],"articleSection":["Communication","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/","name":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-22T01:26:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-07T15:22:52+00:00","description":"Knowing your enemies is essential to wielding power. Here's how to go about finding out what your enemies are up to.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","width":776,"height":519},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-know-your-enemy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Know Your Enemy: Be a Spy, But Act as a Friend"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-overconfidence-bias.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61613"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61668,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61613\/revisions\/61668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}