Never Reveal The Whole Story

You know what distinguishes the guys who make it from the guys who always miss the cut? The ones who make it always have a plan, the other guys only have their pipe dreams.

A master plan for your life, a business opportunity, or anything else, always gives you an advantage over the other guy who is clueless. The guys who are successful in business, the only success worth measuring (let's face it, we are judged by how many zeros we have in our bank accounts) stand out from others who are still polishing their shoes because their plans were greater and better executed than anybody else's.

The men who make it, the ones with the best plans, know something you don't. It's the little details that set people apart. Everyone knows the big stuff; knowing the intricacies of life will differentiate (big words) you from others. So if you know something that most don't, why tell them?

That's why one of the things i learnt the hard way and have made it one of my golden rules is to never reveal 100% of anything to anyone. You reveal only what needs to be revealed to get a job done, or get your point across. Always withhold something 50%, 10%, even 1% of what you know. Don't just give away mama's secret recipe to impress someone. That 1% you withhold is the small detail that will make you rich off the other guy, and not the other way around.

Keep The Plan To Yourself

When you get that genius idea that is going to make you prosperous, your big plan , you can't share it with others. The minute your plan comes out of its box, it's like spoiled milk.

The Coca-Cola formula is a good example of how keeping a plan secret can line many pockets. That formula is the key to a multi-billion dollar fortune. Do you think the pharmacist who invented it would have the legacy he has now had he told his poker and drinking buddies exactly how he made it?

A real good plan shouldn't even be put down on paper. It should only be available in your head, if you can pull it off without needing a paper trail.

As I go through life I tend to assume everyone I meet will try to screw me over. So I learned a while back to keep my mouth shut. Even when I need to open my mouth, I am always careful. Even my closest friends don't know everything I know.

That said, your plan is worthless unless you put it into action, and, often, you need help to execute it, so you can't keep 100% of it to yourself.

Keep your banana hidden...

If you want someone to do a good job helping you implement your brilliant idea, he needs to understand your plan. You have to give him enough info to do his job. But just enough especially if you are dealing with an associate and not someone within your business circle. They (especially) don't need to know the end goal of your plan. You think some clown is going to help you when you tell him he is going to get a fraction for a job that will net you six figures?

Most people work more efficiently knowing only what they need to know. Information overload only gets their little brains asking stupid questions and wasting your time. All it takes is one dude to turn a great plan into your personal Waterloo. For those of you who where too busy messing around in class and too busy not to listen to their history teachers, Waterloo was Napoleon's great defeat. (Yeah, I know my history)

Just Do Your Job

In the corporate world it's the same thing. If you're the boss, you're not going to tell every Tom, Dick and Harry in your organization everything you know or everything that is going on in the company. They don't need to know everything to do their job. They don't need to know what Vincent in accounting is making or which secretary is loose between the sheets.

And when people think they need to know, they are nothing but trouble. Once people are "in the loop," they suddenly have to know everything, they won't be satisfied with morsels anymore. Worse, they feel they have the right to know. The only guy that has the right to know is the man with the plan. And usually, he wears a cap that says Boss.

In the corporate world, withholding information has less to do with becoming rich and more to do with maintaining a functional organization. When you have an organization that's chock full of fools who know as much as you, your orders and decisions will start being second guessed because some dude thinks he knows it all. Why? Because he knows the plan. Someone has to call the shots and make the decisions, and that's harder to do when everyone thinks they are their own little boss.

It's one thing to come up with a plan, it's another to know of it. Just because you know the ingredients that go into a good Bolognaise, doesn't mean you'll become the reincarnation of Chef Luigi. It's the same thing in business, so why waste your time informing people about things they don't need to know? So you can hear their BS suggestions? If their suggestions are so brilliant, why are they working for you? Why don't they have their own plan?

And forget the idea that you can tell little Jimmy about your plan because his small brain wouldn't know how to execute it. Very few people are disciplined enough to keep their mouths shut about anything. People love to show off what they know (even if guys who like to tell people how much they know are usually the ones who know the least). When someone actually knows something of value, you think they keep their mouths shut? Even if someone doesn't have the brains or capacity to execute any plan you reveal, someone who listens to him might.

Your Family

If you can't reveal 100% of anything to your closest friends, you definitely can't to your family either. Your family should be sheltered from any business you conduct. What you do at work is what you do, not what your family does. Don't bring it home, and, most definitely, don't give your big mouth wife any intricate details about the brilliant idea you might have. If you do, you might as well give her your secret bank account numbers too.

Even if you don't have loud mouth for a wife, you don't want her to know anything you might be doing (legal or illegal). Why? First of all, to protect her from being drawn into anything you might be taken down for. And secondly, to prevent her from using that info for revenge. Luckily for me, my wife knows better than to ask questions or reveal anything she might think she knows. All your wife needs to know is the name of the lawyer who will execute your will, because you need to take care of your family if something happens to you.

You're gonna talk? Here's the price you're gonna have to pay...

Consequences

So what happens if you do reveal everything?

You lose control of the situation. You don't control all aspects of your plan anymore. If everybody adds their two cents and everyone thinks they can improve on your plan, you are no longer the leader, but the middleman. Say goodbye to any leverage you have.

You can get sidestepped. If someone knows your brilliant idea, what good are you anymore? If you reveal where it is you get those Armani suits at $200 a piece, why will he need to buy the suits from you at $400? Never reveal your supplier. You are asking to get cut out.

Jealousy and greed kick in. Human nature is a very predictable thing, people get jealous of others who have success or come into money. Any plan worth executing is a lucrative one. So revealing how much money you are going to make will only enrage your partners because of how little they are getting.

If you don't get ambushed as a result, your partners might screw up your plan anyway out of jealously or greed. People who become "informed" always think they should get a bigger piece of the pie. That's why it's so important to let those you hire know that all you want them to do is the job they've been assigned and nothing more. Otherwise, you might as well give any proceeds of your plan to charity, because you won't be seeing any cash worth opening your wallet for.

Last Tip

Any lucrative plan you have going should only be passed on when you are ready to get out of the rat race. But because we never know when our time is up, here is some advice:

Keep your great plan (and knowledge of your assets) split up among a bunch of lawyers. Hire one lawyer as the executor who will reveal the names of the other lawyers, who will each have a part of your plan and your assets. Instruct these lawyers that the only person who can get this info is your designated heir (wife, kids, whoever).

If you want your plan to be passed on to the right people at the right time, this will swing the odds in your favor.

the audacious truth