The Hold
When they push back on your pushback
You made your case. They pushed back harder. The room is watching to see if you fold or escalate — and neither option is the right one.
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Part of this story
The Pushback
→Your manager is wrong and you know it. Practice how to disagree upward — firmly, professionally, and in a way that makes them glad you spoke.
Part of the quest
Managing Up
→The most underrated workplace skill. From making your work visible to your manager, to pushing back on bad decisions and navigating your boss's boss — practice the conversations that shape how your career is seen from above.
What you'll learn from The Hold
This scenario focuses on When they push back on your pushback — a critical skill inside the broader leadership domain. You'll face a decision where the instinctive response is often the wrong one. After you make your choice, you'll see exactly what happened in the other person's head and why it mattered. The scenario is part of The Pushback, a full interactive story inside the Managing Up quest.
Skills you'll build in Managing Up
More scenarios in this quest
Your manager just announced a decision that will set the team back three months. Everyone nods. Your jaw tightens — you know this is wrong, and staying quiet will cost more than speaking up.
You have the data. The numbers are on your side. Now you have to present them without making your manager feel stupid — because the moment they feel attacked, the facts stop mattering.
The decision went their way. You still disagree. Now you have to commit fully to something you argued against — and mean it.
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