People are employing fake assistants
This may be hard to believe, but more people than you realize are pretending that they have an assistant. In other words, they have an alter ego and are acting as their own assistant. Although the practice has been going on for decades, it's gained some steam recently, thanks to bragging on social media about tricking people.
You might be scratching your head and wondering why anyone would do such a thing. Actually, it may not be for the reason you would expect: the prestige of having your own assistant is not the reason. It's because a fake assistant gets more done.
You might be scratching your head and wondering why anyone would do such a thing. Actually, it may not be for the reason you would expect: the prestige of having your own assistant is not the reason. It's because a fake assistant gets more done.
The art of "hiring" a fake assistant
Let's suppose that you are an entrepreneur, and you work solo to keep your expenses down; but a vendor owes you money. It looks a little desperate to call the vendor yourself to ask for the money; so, just have your (fake) personal assistant send them an email and ask for the money. Would you ever consider doing it?
What if your favorite restaurant was fully booked and you couldn't get in? By conducting real-world trials and experiments, some people have learned that having an "assistant" call to book the reservation for "the boss" and a "major A-list actor" garners much better results than pleading with the restaurant manager yourself.
What if your favorite restaurant was fully booked and you couldn't get in? By conducting real-world trials and experiments, some people have learned that having an "assistant" call to book the reservation for "the boss" and a "major A-list actor" garners much better results than pleading with the restaurant manager yourself.
Ferris Bueller also tried social engineering to get what he wanted as well
The fake assistant gag is what security experts call "social engineering," which was used by Ferris Bueller when he wanted to eat lunch at a fancy restaurant. In effect, the fake assistant gag is a version of that same ploy.
Ferris Bueller did a version of "social engineering" when he wanted restaurant reservations
The ethical implications of pretending to be your own assistant
While social experiments may prove success in having an assistant help you to collect a bad debt or make a hard-to-get dinner reservation, we are going to recommend that you not do it. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to you when someone finds out, then you're going to have egg all over your face.
Instead, we suggest reading a book on the art of negotiation and use persuasion to get what you want, without pretending to be something that you are not. After all, the 99% of us that can't afford an assistant have to do it.
Instead, we suggest reading a book on the art of negotiation and use persuasion to get what you want, without pretending to be something that you are not. After all, the 99% of us that can't afford an assistant have to do it.
