Embodiment · “Being Precedes Having”
The Master Mind
Multiply your power by forming a small, harmonious alliance of minds that meet regularly to coordinate knowledge and effort toward a definite purpose.
Pick two or more people whose knowledge complements yours, in genuine harmony, organized around one definite purpose. Meet regularly, pool knowledge, coordinate effort, and make sure everyone benefits. Guard the harmony — that’s where Hill says the power lives.
What it is
Hill’s most influential social practice — the origin of the modern “mastermind group.” He defines the Master Mind as “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.” The claim has two layers.
The economic layer: you gain the experience, education, knowledge, and influence of every member as if it were your own. The psychic layer (Hill’s metaphysics): “No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible, intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.” Hill attributes the practice to Andrew Carnegie, who he says credited his fortune to a master-mind group of about fifty people.
Note this is a different concept from Christian Larson’s earlier “master mind” (the self-governed individual thinker).
The Method
From Chapter 10, “Power of the Master Mind”:
- Have a definite purpose first. The alliance must be organized around a specific, shared aim — your Definite Chief Aim or the group’s joint objective. Power comes from coordinated effort toward something definite.
- Choose members for harmony. Hill stresses the alliance must work “in a spirit of perfect harmony.” Friction or hidden discord, he warns, dissipates the power; pick people you can be in genuine accord with.
- Choose members for the knowledge/skills you lack. Select allies whose experience, education, and abilities complement yours, so the group’s combined mind exceeds any one member’s.
- Meet regularly and actively. Convene the group on a definite schedule (Hill suggests frequent contact, e.g. meeting regularly until the purpose is achieved) to plan, pool knowledge, and coordinate.
- Arrange fair value for members. Give each member adequate benefit/compensation (material or otherwise) so the harmony is real and sustained, not resentful.
- Maintain the harmony deliberately. The power, in Hill’s account, exists only while the spirit of harmony is maintained; treat conflict as something to resolve, not ignore. (Sourcing note: quoted phrases are from Hill’s Master Mind chapter, short fair-use quotation; steps describe his method faithfully.)
Source & Lineage
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (1937), Chapter 10, “Power of the Master Mind” (the principle also runs through The Law of Success, 1928).
Hill credits Andrew Carnegie as the source. The term predates Hill in Christian D. Larson’s individual sense (see contrast below). Hill’s group version seeded today’s peer-accountability “mastermind” movement. → (hill napoleon).
Common refinements
No definite purpose. A social club is not a master mind; organize around a specific shared aim.
- Ignoring disharmony. Hill is emphatic that friction kills it; address conflict, or the group is worse than none.
- Members too similar. Choose complementary knowledge and skills, not clones.
- Meeting irregularly. The power is in sustained, scheduled coordination, not occasional chats.
- One-way benefit. If members aren’t fairly served, harmony decays. Make it mutual.