TRUMP CARDS: The Elements of the Deal

特朗普 1987年的旧作 交易的艺术

“My style of deal- making is quite simple and straight forward. I aim very high, and then just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after. Sometimes I settle for less than I sought, but in most cases I still end up with what I want.” (1987: p. 45)

These are the opening lines of chapter 2 of Donald Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal. A clearer statement of a man’s guiding philosophy cannot, I feel, be found. Today (March, 2016), it seems strange that anyone would be surprised by Trump’s success so far in his campaign for the Republican nomination for the Presidency.

Trump states, “I think deal-making is an ability you are born with. It is in the genes. I don’t say that egotistically. It is not about being brilliant. It does take a certain intelligence, but mostly it’s about instincts.” (p. 45)

So what are the elements of a deal that one should be intuitively tuned into?

• THINK BIG - “I like thinking big.” (46)
  PROTECT THE DOWN SIDE AND THE UPSIDE WILL TAKE - CARE OF ITSELF -- “I believe in the power of negative thinking.” (p. 48)
• MAXIMIZE YOUR OPTIONS – “I protect myself by being flexible.” (p. 50)
• KNOW YOUR MARKET – “Some people have a sense of the market and some people don’t. (p. 51)
• USE YOUR LEVERAGE – “The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you have.” (p. 53)
• ENHANCE YOUR LOCATION – “Location … has a lot to do with fashion. You can take a mediocre location and turn it into something considerably better just be attracting the right people.” (p. 54-55)
• GET THE WORD OUT – “You can have the most wonderful product in the world, but if people don’t know about it, it is not going to be worth much.” (p. 56)
• FIGHT BACK – “Much as it pays to emphasis the positive, there are times when the only choice is to be confrontational.” (p. 58)
• DELIVER THE GOODS – “You can’t con people, at least not for long. … If you can’t deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.” (p. 60)
• CONTAIN THE COST – “I believe in spending what you have to. But I also believe in not spending more than you should.” (p. 61)
• HAVE FUN – “Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way keeping score. The real excitement is playing the game.” (p. 63)

中译

1. 野心勃勃
2. 保护劣势，优势就会自我维护
3. 把选择最大化
4. 了解市场
5. 运用影响力
6. 让位置有价值
7. 发声
8. 回击
9. 履行诺言
10. 控制成本
11. 乐在其中