Here is a good example of what is called the Sarick Effect being employed.
This is when one is in front of an adversarial audience, rather than emphasizing strengths and downplaying weaknesses, you emphasize your weaknesses and downplay your strengths – in order to earn trust.
But does this work? I have no idea. Maybe it can?
I would rather take the advice of Scott Adams and Robert Cialdini here.
But what do I know
Strangely, though, Griscom did it again. One of his slides read: “Here’s Why You Should Not Buy Babble.” Presenting to the family division of digital at Disney, he explained that user engagement, at less than three page views per visit, was lower than expected. Babble was supposed to be a parenting website, but 40 percent of the posts were about celebrities. And the back end of the website was in sore need of retooling. Disney ended up buying the company for $40 million.
-Adam Grant, Originals