To deceive people, seem to give them a meaningful choice. But sharply limit their options to a few that work in your favour regardless of which they choose. Your victims will feel in control, but you’ll pull the strings.

We all like having choices, and often don’t notice that the choices we have can be very limited, whether in elections, our jobs, or the marketplace. We accept this, even though it isn’t fair, because the alternative, unlimited freedom of choice, is too overwhelming to contemplate. A limited range is easier to deal with and provokes less anxiety.

The fact that most people aren’t bothered by limited choices creates great opportunity for deception. People won’t feel they’re being deceived if they have at least a small amount of choice.

Here are some ways to control the options for your benefit:

Spin The Choices: Henry Kissinger often used this technique with President Nixon. He’d propose three or four choices presented so that his favored option always looked best compared to the others. This works well with an insecure boss like Nixon.

Advocate The Opposite: Present what you don’t want as your favored option, and people who are contrarians will choose the opposite (what you do want). This technique works with children as well.

Alter The Playing Field: In the 1860s, John. D Rockefeller set out to create an oil monopoly. If he tried to buy up smaller oil companies they would figure out what he was doing and fight back. Instead, he began secretly buying up the railway companies that transported the oil. When he attempted to take over a particular company, and met with with resistance, he reminded them of their dependence on the rails. Rockefeller altered the playing field so that the only options the small oil producers had were the one’s he gave them. In this tactic your opponents know their hand is being forced, but it doesn’t matter. The technique is effective against those who resist at all costs.

The Weak Man on the Precipice: Cardinal de Retz, served as an unofficial assistant to the Duke of Orleans, who was notoriously indecisive. It was a constant struggle to convince the duke tot ake action — he would weight the options, and wait til the last moment. But Retz discovered a way to handle him: He would describe all sorts of dangers, exaggerating them as much as possible, until the duke saw a yawning abyss in every direction except one: the one Retz was pushing him to take. Work on their emotions — use fear and terror to propel them into action. Try reason and they will always find a way to procrastinate.

Controlling the options has one main purpose: to disguise yourself as the agent of power and punishment. The tactic works best, then, for those whose power is fragile, and who cannot operate too openly without incurring suspicion, resentment and anger. Even as a general rule, however, it is rarely wise to be seen as exerting power directly and forcefully, no matter how secure or strong you are. It is usually more elegant and more effective to give people the illusion of choice.

There are situations in which it is to your advantage to allow your rivals a large degree of freedom: As you watch them operate, you give yourself rich opportunities to spy, gather information, and plan your deceptions.