Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1234IR // #c1234Verbatim excerpt
"Keep a CONSTANT WATCH on the DOUBTFUL VOTERS, and from time to time have them TALKED TO by those IN WHOM THEY HAVE THE MOST CONFIDENCE."

— Source: This Is the Plan (Ben Wikler)

[Use when]

You need to win over a wavering group and are deciding who should deliver the message.

[Why it matters]

Lincoln wrote this to a Whig campaign committee. Wikler's point is that today's relational-organizing apps add data on who might be doubtful and who has talked to whom. The underlying method is unchanged.

Filed under situations:When you need a yes and they’re not there yet

More from This Is the Plan

#c1233"Here’s the operating principle: All other things being equal, you’ll be most persuasive to the people with whom you have the closest…You want to change minds and are about to start with the widest, least personal channel available. #c1235"Whenever a new way to reach someone unsolicitedly and cheaply pops into existence—mail, texts, Facebook messages—it has a brief twinkling…Your team is excited about a new cheap outreach channel because early numbers look great. #c1236"The most recent review of the available evidence found that a conversation with someone at their doorstep in a “high-salience” election…You're asking people to do slow, low-yield outreach and need them to understand what success looks like.

Same situation, different book

#c1447Demagogues Blame Absent Partners For Local DisastersWhen a partner's executive blames your absent team for a joint outage, publish the signed deployment log to…From The Hobbit #c1436Politeness Traps You Into Signing Away SafetyWhen a client or partner acts as if an unapproved scope expansion is settled, stop the meeting and state your…From The Hobbit #c1381Dress for the sixtieth rowYour work will be seen from far away and someone wants it toned down for close inspection.From Matriarch #c1368Belonging is the secret of brandingYour customers come back and are treated like strangers each time.From Matriarch