Law 18 of 48
Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous.
Avoid isolating yourself from others by building metaphorical fortresses. While it may seem like a means of protection, isolation can lead to vulnerability and stagnation. Instead, cultivate meaningful connections and alliances to strengthen your position.
Independent commentary on a principle popularised in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or their publishers.
What it actually means
Withdrawing after a setback feels like safety and works like a blindfold. What is actually happening travels through people, so the moment you stop seeing them you are running on your own assumptions. Self-sufficiency and isolation look identical from the inside, which is why this one is easy to miss.
Where you would have seen it
After a bruising restructure you stop going to the Thursday drinks and keep your head down. Six months on you find out the new team was shaped in exactly those conversations, and your name never came up once.
Try it today
Contact one person you have drifted from and put something in the diary. A time and a date, not the words we should catch up.
Where this shows up
Law 18 tends to come up in these parts of life. Follow a path to read the other laws that belong with it:
Friends & Family · At Work · Leading People
Laws that go with it
If law 18 landed, these are the entries people usually read next — they cover overlapping ground: law 17, law 1, law 2.
Keep Others in Suspended Terror.
Unpredictability is a control device.
Leading PeopleAt WorkFriends & FamilyLaw 1Never Outshine the Master.
Competence is rarely the problem; displaying it in front of someone whose position rests on being the capable one is.
At WorkLeading PeopleLaw 2Never Put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies.
Friendship makes obligations invisible: nobody states the terms, so nobody can be held to them.
Friends & FamilyAt Work