The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. – Lao Tse

it’s their idea…

An easy way to win friends and gain cooperation is to let them take credit for your idea. We all feel a need to be right. We all want to be credited justly. Does it really matter? What’s more important, that we be right, or that the right outcome be achieved? If we believe in the inherent goodness of Life, then we won’t be so concerned about gaining credit. Let the other person think it’s their idea, we win a friend and gain their cooperation for a lifetime!

life principles

16th Dale Carnegie Principle: Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.

Here’s a story from the book:

Colonel Edward M. House wielded an enormous influence in national and international affairs while Woodrow Wilson occupied the White House. Wilson leaned upon Colonel House for secret counsel and advice more than he did upon even members of his own cabinet.
What method did the Colonel use in influencing the President? Fortunately, we know, for House himself revealed it to Arthur D. Howden Smith, and Smith quoted House in an article in The Saturday Evening Post.
" ‘After I got to know the President,’ House said, ‘I learned the best way to convert him to an idea was to plant it in his mind casually, but so as to interest him in it – so as to get him thinking about it on his own account. The first time this worked it was an accident. I had been visiting him at the White House and urged a policy on him which he appeared to disapprove. But several days later, at the

dinner table, I was amazed to hear him trot out my suggestion as his own.’ "
Did House interrupt him and say, "That’s not your idea. That’s mine" ? Oh, no. Not House. He was too adroit for that. He didn’t care about credit. He wanted results. So he let Wilson continue to feel that the idea was his. House did even more than that. He gave Wilson public credit for these ideas.
Let’s remember that everyone we come in contact with is just as human as Woodrow Wilson. So let’s use Colonel House’s technique.

Daily Affirmation: Today I allow others to take credit!

Recommendation: How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie