This week I read the classic title “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli. The book is a political treatise by Machiavelli that is his most remembered work published during his lifetime.
The theories in this book describe methods that an aspiring prince can use to acquire the throne, or an existing prince can use to maintain his reign. These theories include defense and military, perceived reputation, generosity, cruelty versus mercy, gaining honors, fortune and a number of other discourses.
While reading the book, I couldn’t help but thinking that if Machiavelli lived today, he would be a great management consultant. The reader can clearly see that he approaches every subject methodically and almost thinks in decision trees when he’s analyzing various options a prince might face.
“There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.”
― Machiavelli Niccolo, The Prince
Thankfully, civilization has progressed quite a bit since ‘The Prince’ was written, otherwise we would all be under the rule of despots & tyrants if we lived in Niccolo Machiavelli’s world. Having said that, one can learn a great deal and form better point of views about politics, governments, and how to navigate the power dynamics in organizations from this book.
Everything in the book is very well-organized, his statements are very specific with a minimum of vagaries. While I don’t agree with the autocratic nature of some of his views, I began to develop a degree of respect for him and the way he used historical references and logical arguments to reinforce almost all of his views.
Overall, readers who love Italian renaissance history or are simply interested in classic political titles will greatly enjoy this book.
*****
The featured image is a portrait of Machiavelli by Santi di Tito.
