Create Something From Nothing

Strategy 7

You use the same feint twice. Having reacted to the first and often the second feint as well, the enemy will be hesitant to react to a third feint. Therefore the third feint is the actual attack catching your enemy with his guard down.

Modern Example

I was ending a contract at a company, and my agency had not found me another job yet. Each time I would talk to my recruiter, I would insist I wanted a raise in order to go to the next position, since I now had so much more experience. Each time, they laughed me off. Finally, I found another, better, contract job within the same company, but in a different department. I negotiated a start date and a job description all on my own. When I presented this as a done deal to my agency, they were surprised. When I reiterated my previous financial demands, my recruiter said, "I thought you were joking!" I replied, "Maybe so, but did you hear me laughing when you were laughing?" I got the promotion, the increased pay, and many more subsequent raises in the years to come after this incident.