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How to Use the Door-in-the-Face Technique at Work
Description
Episode 93 of The Office Politics Podcast explores the door-in-the-face technique — a negotiation and influence tactic where you make a large, unreasonable request first, then follow up with a smaller, more reasonable one. Lucas and Luna break down how this works in office politics, using the example of asking for a big budget for a new project, then scaling back to get approval for a pilot. They walk through a real-world scenario from a marketing manager at a mid-sized tech firm, discuss the psychology of reciprocity and guilt, and explain when the tactic backfires if the initial request is too absurd. The episode also covers ethical boundaries — how to use it without damaging trust. Listeners learn a specific, actionable strategy to get buy-in for their ideas, whether from a boss, a cross-functional team, or a difficult stakeholder.