cialdini-influence

Read [runtime](../../content/RUNTIME.md) and [advisory rules](../../content/policies/advisory.md) before applying this skill. Other Foreman layers and the catalog are in `../../content/`, relative to this SKILL.md. # Cialdini's Principles of Influence Machiavelli understood power. He also understood that writing a manual for its naked exercise would earn him five centuries of notoriety -- the word "Machiavellian" survives as a synonym for amoral manipulation. Robert Cialdini, the Arizona State psychologist whose *Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion* has sold over five million copies, operates in adjacent territory but with a critical distinction. Where Machiavelli catalogued how power is *seized*, Cialdini mapped how consent is *manufactured* -- and then insisted on an ethical boundary. His seven principles describe the psychological triggers that cause people to say yes. They work whether deployed ethically or cynically, which is precisely why understanding them is not optional for founders. You will use these principles, or they will be used on you. The only choice is whether you wield them with awareness and integrity. The difference between influence and manipulation is not technique -- it is intent. Influence uses legitimate psychological principles to guide people toward decisions that genuinely serve their interests. Manipulation uses the same principles to exploit them. The toolkit is identical; the ethics are opposite. --- ## The Framework Cialdini origina...