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Cialdinian Tricks: Why They Fail →

Strategy First, Tactics Last →

Pyrrhic Victory →

Persuasion Porn →

The ARCI Sequence →

Flaws of the Anzai Protocol →

The Three Requisites →

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Cialdinian Tricks: Why They Fail

I n the 1950s, there was a salesman named Joe.

Joe sold co ee beans from door to door in the Omaha suburbia.

Life was tough. Few cared for his co ee. His hustle fared poorly, even
with bored Nebraskan housewives.

So, one day, Joe tried something di erent.

Instead of touting his co ee outright, he said:

“Good afternoon, m’am. I brought you something special today.

Here’s a pack of our nest Arabica beans. It’s free! I’ll come
back later so let me know if you like it.”

The housewife accepted the gift. When Joe returned the following
week, she bought from him.
 Why? © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
Copyright

When A Cialdinian Trick Works

My friend Bobby explains:

“When she took the co ee beans, she felt she had to repay him,
and she did. By buying from him.

“The principle of reciprocity at work! When you’ve done

something for someone, she’ll want to return the favor.”

Ah, reciprocity. The oldest trick in the Cialdinian book of

persuasion. It is the unassailable, the undisputed heavyweight
champion of the persuasion world.

Dubbed the Godzilla by Scott Adams, Robert Cialdini is the foremost

guru in the eld of persuasion. All his stratagems– commitment,
consistency, consensus, likability, authority, scarcity–have been
canonized into collective reverence and unquestioned acceptance.

But why?

When A Cialdinian Trick Fails

Are Cialdinian tricks infallible?

To answer this question, let’s do a fun thought experiment.

 PICTURE THIS

Imagine Joe stumbling into a time machine that teleports him to 21st century
New York. Now, picture him knocking on doors in Manhattan with the same
“I brought you a gift today!” pitch he used to tempt Nebraskan broads in
1954.

So, what do you think? Will it work?

Choose your response below. (Click on one of the checkboxes.)

Yes, and Joe rises to be the 몭nest coffee peddler in the history of New
York.
No, Joe will get crushed like an Arabica bean and he deserves it.

Then, click here to reveal my answer (and why).

The Takeaway
What’s the takeaway from this story?

Well, there are two.

One: Nothing works everywhere, on everyone, every time. (Not even

mighty Cialdini.)

And more important–

Two: If you’re looking for a tactic to persuade someone, you’re not

doing it right.
Because you don’t need a tactic. You need a strategy .

Strategy? Tactic? What’s the di erence?

This.
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Strategy First, Tactics Last

T he cardinal rule of the Anzaian school of social power–

Strategy rst, tactics last.

Sounds simple, and yet few understand this. Strategies and tactics
seem so similar that it’s typical to confuse one for the other.

What makes a strategy di erent from a tactic?

Famed military theorist General Carl von Clausewitz had the

answer–

“Tactics is the art of using the troops in battle. Strategy is

the art of using battles to win the war.”

What does that mean?

Let’s answer
Copyright the Akira
© 2023 question with
Anzai & aThe
historical event. · All Rights Reserved
Anzai Protocol
Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved

Picture this–you’re a general in the Roman empire. And you’re

waging war against your nemesis, King Pyrrhus of Epirus.

You’re camped in Asculum (present day Ascoli Satriano, Italy) with

40,000 men under your command. King Pyrrhus matches your
numbers with his own 40,000-strong infantry. The Epirotes, however,
have an edge over you– war elephants .

Monstrously huge and wildly unpredictable, they are the Achilles

Heel of the straight-laced Roman army. Pyrrhus had routed your
soldiers a year ago in Heraclea. And with these colossal tuskers, he
sets his sights for a repeat victory lap in Asculum.

The Battle of Asculum

Your advantage? The might of the fearsome Roman legion backing

you. With an immense reserve of foot soldiers, swords and shields,
you have the resources to ght as long as it takes.

So, what will you do?

Choose your option (click the appropriate box).

Charge at the enemy head on, war elephants and all.

Choose your skirmishes, in몭ict selective damage and wear the enemy
out.

Then, click here to continue.

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Pyrrhic Victory

P yrrhus of Epirus won the Battle of Asculum in 280 BC.

Over 10,000 Romans got killed in the battle – twice that of the
Epirotes. The victory for Pyrrhus was decisive.

Here’s the surprising thing, though. When someone congratulated

Pyrrhus, he lamented:

“If we win another battle against the Romans, we shall be

ruined.”

What happened?

This: Despite fewer lives lost, many of Pyrrhus’ best ghters

perished. As resources were running to the ground, so did the morale.

Conversely, the Romans had replenished their infantry with

remarkable ease. With an endless supply of soldiers, they dug into
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their heels, readyAkira
for a Anzai & The
prolonged Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
war.
Copyright © 2023
their heels, readyAkira
for a Anzai & The
prolonged Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
war.

Pyrrhus could barely stomach the thought of another ght. Fearing a

rout, he ed Italy in pained disappointment.

What’s the cautionary tale here?

You may win a battle and yet lose the war.

The Battle of Asculum is the textbook

example of a Pyrrhic victory –a short-lived
win with a heavy toll, a quick respite that
jeopardizes long-term progress.

With war elephants, the Epirotes had an

advantage over the Romans–a tactical one. Pyrrhus of Epirus

And yet with strategic insight, the Romans

drove the Epirotes out of Italy in due course, winning the war.

Strategy rst, tactics last.

Because even the most state-of-the-art, belled-and-whistled of tactics

are impotent without old-fashioned strategic thinking. Sure, tactics
can be important–but only when employed in line with strategy.

“I get it, Akira. But what does this have to do with persuasion
and in uence?”

Good question. Here’s the answer.

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Persuasion Porn

A ll his life, Bobby has had an insatiable lust for persuasion,

in uence and social power.

“Nothing fascinates me more, Akira,” Bobby enthused. “It’s

almost like a fetish. I buy every book I can nd. And I tear
through every page for the juicy bits… like a 14-year-old would
with Playboy.

“Last week, I found a new book promising some novel

persuasion tricks. I spent an hour devouring it. And then, as I
put it back on my library shelf, something struck.

“As I looked across the shelves… all these books… all this
knowledge… I’ve not used any of it .

“And as I struggled to recall what I just read… guess what? I

could remember nothing .”

Maybe you’ve experienced the same thing as Bobby. You read a book
on persuasion, you’re learning something new, and yet it all seems a
Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
little… o . And yet, you can’t put a nger on what exactly.

It’s Not Your Fault

Does that sound familiar to you? If yes, then know this–

It’s not your fault.

Why? Because books on persuasion tactics give you exactly

that– tactics . And that’s the problem.

Strategy assigns the all-crucial context . When there’s no strategy,

there’s no context. There’s no meaning.
Ask a cognitive expert and he’ll tell you this: for an idea to stick, it
needs to mean something. That’s why our minds are indi erent to
meaningless, contextless tactics . They don’t stick.

And that’s not all. Apart from providing context, an incisive strategy
lets you do the smart thing.

Because of the many tactics available to you, you can now cherry-pick
those that move you closer towards your goal. You can ignore the rest.

This way, you keep your eye on the prize.

Recall Pyrrhus’ war in Italy. The Roman general could have used
every war tactic in the book to prevail at Asculum…

…and yet he threw the battle by choice , driving Pyrrhus into

exhaustion and dispiriting abandonment.

And that’s masterful, would you agree?

Context Is Everything
With a clear strategy, you’re never swayed by novelty persuasion
tricks. Because when you stumble upon something new, you qualify it
rst–

Does this tactic t the context?

After all, as you now know, all tactics are contextual . One may work
under certain circumstances and not others. I mean, ask Joe.
under certain circumstances and not others. I mean, ask Joe.

So, here are the takeaways.

First. Most popular books on persuasion teach tactics, not strategy.

Sure, read them, but don’t get drowned in persuasion porn. Don’t be
Bobby.

And this brings us to the second takeaway–

Strategy rst, tactics last.

In the Anzai Protocol, strategy is preeminent. Strategy reigns

supreme. Because without strategy, tactics are meaningless.

Nonetheless, as an Anzaian, you’ll be armed to the teeth with every

social in uence tactic that matter–and these may number in the
hundreds…

…and yet there’s one–only one–strategy that you’ll ever need.

The ARCI Sequence.

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The ARCI Sequence

W hat makes the Anzai Protocol di erent?

This–

The Anzai Protocol is not about persuasion, but indoctrination .

Persuasion, indoctrination… what’s the di erence?

There are a few.

For one, persuasion is occasion-speci c. It rarely lasts beyond the

occasion you persuaded your mark.

Indoctrination is one-o . Indoctrinate your mark once and he obeys

you–possibly forever.

To borrow a business term, persuasion is not scalable . You must

persuade your mark one-by-one, again and again, ad in nitum.

For mass control, indoctrination is the way.

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Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved

Indoctrinate, don’t persuade.

The ARC Towards Indoctrination

As an Anzaian, you’re not a persuader. You’re an indoctrinator.

As an Anzaian, you think di erent. After all, you’re eyeing something

bigger. In uence is what you want and indoctrination is the endgame.

You’re smart, and so you have probably realized that indoctrination

might require more thought than persuasion. And you’re right.

Because unlike persuasion, indoctrination has no magic tricks, no

silver bullets. It a process that spans across multiple stages, forming a
sequence . We’ll get to the details in a moment, so keep reading.

Even before you indoctrinate your mark, you must rst prime him up
as a target . There are three prerequisite conditions necessary for
indoctrination:
Prerequisite #1: Attention

You must have your mark’s attention. The capture of his focus gives
you the privilege of directing it to anything you want.

Prerequisite #2: Rapport

The second prerequisite is rapport. Beyond capturing attention, your

mark must like you enough to play along.

Prerequisite #3: Compliance

Or, the mark’s willingness to ful l simple requests when you make
them.

You may remember these three prerequisites with this abbreviation–

ARC = Attention + Rapport + Compliance

We’ll come back to this later. For now, let’s look at another important
concept in social in uence: submission .

The Submission Scale

When someone asks you “What do you do?” at a party, it’s merely a
polite way of asking, “Are you worth talking to?”

Similarly, in your rst encounter with your mark, in his mind, he is

sizing you up.

“Is this person worth talking to?”

“Is he stronger than I am?”

“Do I need to respect him?”

Ultimately–

“Does this person have authority over me?”

In the Anzai Protocol, we de ne indoctrination as the submission to

authority–the mark’s submission to your authority.

And because submission lies on a spectrum, it’s useful to have a tool

to measure it. The Submission Scale is this tool in the Anzaian’s
indoctrination arsenal.

The Submission Scale measures the degree of your mark’s submission

to you. As the indoctrinator, you want to move him to the top end of
the scale (ten).

Submission Scale
Take note–

You rarely start at the bottom (zero). In fact, in most circumstances,

you won’t.

Why?

Because a strong rst impression will give you a head start, placing
your starting point higher than zero on the Submission Scale. This
depends on three factors:

1. Social signals: titles, reputation

2. Physical contrasts: height, size
3. Intangible factors: charm, charisma

No matter where you start, however, it’s where you end up on the
Submission Scale that counts. And that brings us to the ARCI
Sequence.

The ARCI Sequence

The ARCI (pronounced as ark-eye ) Sequence is the bedrock of the
Anzai Protocol. It maps the four stages to increasing your mark’s
submission to your authority, leading to his indoctrination.
 The ARCI Sequence

The ARCI Sequence comprises of four stages:

Stage 1 (the A stage): Capture Attention

Stage 2 (the R stage): Develop Rapport
Stage 3 (the C stage): Build Compliance
Stage 4 (the I stage): Perform Indoctrination

Remember the three prerequisites for Indoctrination, ARC ?

Be ttingly, they form the rst three stages in the ARCI Sequence.
And together, they prime the mark for Indoctrination (or, the I stage).

Now, here’s what’s crucial about the ARCI Sequence– the

Indoctrinator must complete one stage before moving to the next.

1. The 몭rst step is to capture your mark’s attention (stage 1).

2. Directing your mark’s focus to you, you’ll develop deep rapport with
him (stage 2).
3. With rapport, you’ll build up his compliance levels with a series of
simple requests (stage 3).
4. When his compliance solidi몭es into habit, complete the protocol by
indoctrinating him (stage 4).

Skipping any of the stages in the ARCI Sequence leads to failure–

Skipping the A stage by attempting rapport without attention capture?

The mark loses interest, gets distracted and disengages from you.
 Skipping the R stage by attempting compliance without rapport? The
mark doesn’t know or like you enough to comply with your requests.
Skipping the C stage by attempting indoctrination without
compliance? The mark would probably be alarmed by your behavior
that he could (rightly) see as psychopathic.

The sequential nature of the ARCI process has another bene t–

You only need to take one step at a time.

Like many students of persuasion, you are probably overwhelmed by

the barrage of theories and tactics from your research. The ARCI
Sequence solves the problem of information overload. With its linear,
do-this-one-thing-before-the-next structure, all you need is to–

One, know the ARCI stage where your mark is, and,
Two, use the tactics relevant only to that ARCI stage to move your
mark to the next.

That’s it. You can ignore everything else.

Why Mainstream Persuasion Fails

You now know how the Anzai Protocol di ers from mainstream
persuasion.

We Anzaians are not persuaders. We are indoctrinators .

And as indoctrinators, we appreciate the importance of strategy and

context. As we have clearly seen with Joe the Co ee Salesman,
context is everything. A persuasion tactic may work in a certain
context only to fail in another.

Mainstream persuasion literature ignores context. Because of this,

they are more like recipe books. Grab a handful of the tactics, put
them in the mix, and voila ! You’ll apparently get the results you want,
right?

Of course not.

Because context matters. Strategy matters. And strategy must come

rst, ahead of everything else.

And with the ARCI Sequence as your guide, you can be strategic.
The ARCI stage is the context. You can then use a tactic only if it’s
appropriate to your mark’s ARCI stage. And that’s smart.

Recall a time when you wanted to build rapport with someone. No

matter how hard you tried to be friendly, your mark couldn’t seem to
warm up to you. Ever experienced this? Yes?

Why does that happen?

Here’s the answer–

Likeability is a Rapport stage tactic.

Attention comes rst before Rapport in the ARCI Sequence. And so,
if you can’t seem to establish rapport with your mark, there’s only one
reason.

You do not have his attention.

So, until you do, piling on Rapport tactics (like likeability) is futile.
He’s distracted; you’re not interesting enough for him to invest his
attention in you. No point working on likeability at the Attention
stage; you should build intrigue instead.

Make sense?

Now, this doesn’t mean that the persuasion tactics you already know
are useless. Far from it.

Instead, think of tactics as arrows in your quiver, weapons in your

indoctrination arsenal. And the ARCI Sequence as the container of
tactics, the provider of context, the blueprint.

It’s the roadmap that guides you towards your goal–the indoctrination
of your mark. Tactics are the chess pieces that move you to that
endgame–essential and yet disposable.
 Tactics in the Anzai Protocol

As Pyrrhus wil testify–

Tactics may win you battles, sometimes. A superior strategy wins you
the war, always.

And the ARCI Sequence is that strategy.

Flaws of the Anzai Protocol

Icarus had wings made from feather and wax. He ew too close to the
sun. His wings melted, and he crashed into the sea where he
drowned.
 The Flight of Icarus by Jacob Peter Gowy (1637)

The mighty Achilles capitulated when they touched his heels.

Kryptonite turns Superman into jelly.

Nothing is infallible. Everyone has a weak point. Even the ARCI

Sequence.

What are the aws of the Anzai Protocol?

There are three.

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Flaws of the Anzai Protocol

E verything man-made has aws. Everything .

Why? Because anything that the human mind conjures requires

tradeo s. It’s a fundamental law of nature. You can’t escape it. This,
anyone who tells you that his ideas are awless is dishonest.

Now here’s the thing. The Anzai Protocol works. And because it
works so well, the tradeo s are huge.

What’s more–most people can’t stomach it. They call it unfair ( true ),
manipulative ( debatable ), immoral ( false ).

That’s OK. This knowledge shouldn’t be mainstream, anyway. After

all, the fewer people who know this, the better it is for the rest of us.

And this brings me to the rst aw–

If the mark knows you’re using the Anzai Protocol, it won’t work.

You can’t persuade someone who knows you’re trying to persuade

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Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
him.

You can’t persuade someone who doesn’t want to be persuaded by

you. It’s not possible.

This is, of course, not a aw speci c to the Anzai Protocol. Once the
mark erects his mental barriers, nothing gets through. Not Dale
Carnegie. Not Robert Cialdini. Not Akira Anzai.

You build in uence over your mark in the dark.

The second aw–

The Anzai Protocol is overkill in most situations.

Truth: you won’t need the Anzai Protocol for most things.

Because many things are too trivial to warrant its use. Like, getting
your kid to eat his greens. Or, for an extra espresso shot from the
barista.

For trivialities, stick to mainstream (Cialdinian) tricks. Use the Anzai

Protocol only where it matters.

In a ght where a stick is all you need, don’t bring a ame thrower.

The third aw may annoy some–

The Anzai Protocol is not for most people.

To be an Anzaian, a base level of competence and eloquence is
essential.

I’ll be blunt here. Someone who can’t string two words together (or
have the charisma of a wooden stool) should forget about the Anzai
Protocol.

You don’t dream of playing in the NBA if you’re a 5′ 2.

Look. I’m not here to sell you hope. The Anzai Protocol is not a magic
bullet . It’s a speci c set of knowledge that suits a speci c set of
situations for a speci c group of people.

And like most useful things, there are aws to deal with, tradeo s to
make.

Is the Anzai Protocol for you?

Well, if you’re not turned o by now, then maybe . Especially when

(yes, there are more hoops to jump over) you can meet these three
requisites.
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The Three Requisites

Requisite #1: Embrace your dark side.

The Anzai Protocol requires a measure of coldheartedness to work.
You can’t be goody-two-shoes and bend the world to your will.
Pragmatic ruthlessness is key.

Requisite #2: Mask your intent.

Never expose yourself as an Anzaian. Conceal the rationale behind
your actions to avoid suspicion or caution.

Smile at your mark with a knife behind your back.

Requisite #3: Render your mark his just due.

The Anzai Protocol is amoral, and yet it obeys the natural principle
of justice.

Don’t harm anyone unless it’s to defend yourself, or if he deserves it.

Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2023 Akira Anzai & The Anzai Protocol · All Rights Reserved