How to master ‘The 48 Laws of Power’

Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel, is also a fan of the laws. He calls them laws of nature.

“Every single human interaction involves this power exchange,” he says. “But it doesn’t mean that power can’t be generous or philanthropic.”

The book, though, has its critics.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is a Stanford University professor and management guru. People like lists, he says, but 48 laws are too much.

“If you give people a list of 48 things, they’re certainly not going to remember them in a situation when they need to use them,” says Pfeffer, author of the forthcoming book Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don’t”

Pfeffer says Greene’s laws are flawed because they are based on isolated historical examples.

Why not build laws around solid research, like a study or experiments?

But this does not rattle Greene. “I observe everyone else’s power games. It’s a beautiful position to be in.”

CNN