Law 31 of 48
Get Others to Play with the Cards You Deal.
Manipulate situations to ensure that others are playing by your rules. By controlling the parameters of interactions and negotiations, you gain a strategic advantage. Influence the decisions and actions of others to achieve your objectives effectively.
Independent commentary on a principle popularised in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or their publishers.
What it actually means
Whoever sets the options usually decides the outcome, even though the other person chooses freely. Notice how often a choice you were offered contained no version of what you actually wanted. Framing is fair when every option is real; it becomes a trick when one exists only to flatter another.
Where you would have seen it
A supplier offers you the basic package or the premium at triple the cost, then mentions a middle tier last. You take the middle one, which is what they meant to sell. Nobody asks whether a different arrangement would suit you better.
Try it today
The next time someone offers you a choice, name a fourth option out loud before answering. Ask what has been left off the list.
Where this shows up
Law 31 tends to come up in these parts of life. Follow a path to read the other laws that belong with it:
Laws that go with it
If law 31 landed, these are the entries people usually read next — they cover overlapping ground: law 12, law 13, law 21.
Disarm Your Victim With Honesty and Generosity.
One honest admission buys more trust than a hundred true statements, which is exactly why it gets used as a technique.
NegotiatingPersuasionLaw 13When Asking for Help, Appeal to People's Self-Interest.
People help you when helping you serves something they already want.
PersuasionNegotiatingAt WorkLaw 21Seem Dumber Than Your Mark.
Showing how much you know buys a moment of credit and costs far more in what people stop telling you.
NegotiatingPersuasionAt Work