Controlling Personalities 101: Exploiting Gray Areas
Not all controlling personalities are manipulative. Some are unintentionally exploitative . But some are willfully deceptive, and engaging such a personality can be exasperating for people who don't have a name for what's happening. People unfamiliar with controlling personalities who scale to success mistake their deception for brilliance. (This is stage two.) The truth is, manipulation tactics are not brilliant, they've been around for millenia, and in total the tactics comprise a list of about eight. Many are cataloged in George K. Simon's book In Sheep's Clothing . Manipulators appear different and new because old tactics from a finite set are used in different combinations and permutations by new players in different settings -- sometimes brilliant settings -- through history. When tactics are seen for what they are, the brilliance of the setting stands or falls on its own merits. ----- "Exploiting the gray area" is a manipulation *pla...