OT, but life-long learning / education is usually attributed to autodidactism (which can be represented in http://degreed.com/). Thanks for the post though. Anecdotal articles are hard to enjoy but this one was ok.
The "good cop, bad cop" one is pretty transparent and I think will only serve to irritate the person you're trying to deal with. I've been on the receiving end of this several times and it doesn't reflect well on the sender.
These are all really good ways to increase value in your business relationships. I feel like I've learned them somewhere also, but I couldn't say where -- maybe TV?
One thing though - some of these will have a negative effect on some people. One of my dislikes is having to take time out of my day to baby-sit someone who's 'in the area' to talk about something that I think should have been done by email.
Point being: If you're going to manipulate someone, it has to be on their terms.
From an attack side this means make sure you know what kind of person you're dealing with. Get good at reading people, see what sort of pronouns and so on they use in messages... that sort of skillset.
From a defence side - i.e. being hard to take advantage of - this means that, if you want to avoid being manipulated, you probably shouldn't let many people know what you really enjoy and value. Give them something that they can believe you value instead and let them think that they're buying your favour/stopping you thinking clearly.
