If you could read just one book on how to be more effective in business and life, I'd pick Influence. It's a tour de force that Cialdini has somehow made more marvelous. ( )

Good, but felt a bit outdated. I think I'd read too many things that cite the same studies for it to feel novel? ( )

one of the classics!

The is an absolute must read for students of social psychology, but those not as interested in psychology will appreciate this book as well. Cialdini's book is very well written and explains how easily we are swayed on a day to day basis by things that we don't put as much time and thought into as we should. Cialdini is the master of being able to explain psych science in a way that is not only accessible, but absolutely entertaining. I would recommend this book to just about anyone. Excellent work, Cialdini! ( )

Hoe eenvoudig het is om ons te misleiden wordt effectief en duidelijk uitgelegd in dit boek. Meermaals dacht ik "dat zou mij niet overkomen", terwijl nog een keertje dieper nadenken een aantal voorbeelden opleverde van toen het ook bij mij heeft gewerkt.... Ongelofelijk! Erg leerzaam dus, zeker omdat we in deze tijd van informatie "overstroming" kwetsbaarder blijken te zijn voor mensen die graag (voor eigen gewin) onze volgzaamheid willen. ( )

Summary: An intesting book about the way humans use and abuse automatic behaviour. Kind of like the Gruen Transfer tv show in book form.

Things I Liked:

Scientific basis: Many if not all of his main points are backed up by at least one scientific study which he mentions and often critiques or demonstrates the flaws of.

Amusing examples: Stories submitted by the readers and the ones provided by the author himself are easy to engage with and use relevant examples.

Integration: Towards the end of the book a lot of the stories while demonstrating one principal actually backreference some of the earlier ones. I
enjoyed this and felt it helped me in understand the general themes and messages of the author.

Thing I thought could have been improved:

80s feel: I'm not quite sure what era it was but a lot of the examples seemed to be from way back when (car sales people; door to door salesmen). It would have been good if the books could have been updated for the modern contexts of Internet scams and viagra commericals ;-)

Text based: Picture tells a thousand words and I think a few diagrams might have helped reinforce the material. As it was I felt I was forgetting some of the old stuff while learning the new stuff. Some pictures may have helped to stem the bleed and provide some simple ways to review the material.

Standout:

Story of 38 people who watched someone get attacked three times and eventually killed while the person screamed for help in NY city. Why'd they do it? Automatic behaviour. ( )