How to Win Friends Discussion

[Matt]

This is the general thread for this month's book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

For those who were as confused as I was: Dale Carnegie is unrelated to Andrew Carnegie, the industrialist. Although the former did change the spelling of his name to match that of the latter. A good marketing move.

Enjoy the reading!

[Kyle]

Thanks Matt!

I'm a few chapters into the book, and I'm struck by how categorically Carnegie rejects the idea of criticism as a useful tool.

He even goes so far as to give an example of a wife asking a husband for constructive criticism (how she can be a better wife). The husband 'wisely' tells her that she is perfect in his eyes.

What do others think? If I were defending Carnegie, I would say that he is rejecting criticism but endorsing positive reinforcement as a medium to achieve the same sort of behavior changes. However, I'm not sure about that defense.

[Kyle]

I'm enjoying this as an audio book. Listening in small chunks and then practicing the principles over a few days is a great way to get hands-on experience with what the book is talking about. It's also a bit repetitive, so it's not too important to catch every sentence (also good for an audio book).

[Matt]

Just got started on this book. So far the author is really full of himself! Just the subtitle is preposterous: "The only book you need to lead you to success". At the very least, it's entertaining :)

[Kyle]

I've been trying to use the Carnegie's techniques on his own book - i.e. to appreciate what value there may be :)

But yeah. It's hard to get past his more categorical statements.