[ned_at_codomain]

I have done four things in the past when working at / with big companies:

1. [Usually the best option] You escalate to your manager. If they're unsuccessful, they can escalate to sufficiently high layers of management that bureaucracy doesn't apply. You can't always do this, because it requires getting other people to care. It's also kind of expensive -- you only get so many social capital points to spend.

2. [Second-best option] You don't take the first 'no' as the final answer. Most people go away after getting rebuffed once, but if you keep pestering people, they might give in. Again, have to be careful with how you spend social capital.

3. [Not always applicable] If your ask involves an external vendor, this is exactly the scenario where enterprise sales representatives become really valuable. Good ones know how to climb the management ladder and build cases for change.

4. [Generally not advisable] You can sometimes just 'break the rules' and accept some risk of consequences. Some rules are real and inviolable. Others can be nonsense bureaucracy. Need to be sure which you're dealing with and whether your reputation would carry you through if you got in trouble.