costa-negotiation-dynamics

Negotiation Strategy and Negotiation Dynamics

Based on Luís Almeida Costa's public method. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Luís Almeida Costa.

When to use

Use this skill to prepare a negotiation brief, review proposed terms, diagnose an impasse or debrief a round with clients, suppliers or internal departments. It is particularly useful when today's agreement, unilateral decisions and behavior change tomorrow's options, information or willingness to cooperate. The deliverable is an actionable brief and, after a round, an updated relationship record. [S2]

Diagnose the situation before selecting tactics. A competitive bid, a price discussion, a complex package and a repeated relationship need different analysis. Do not promise that every disagreement admits a mutually beneficial deal, or that a courteous process requires accepting unfavorable terms. [S3][S5]

This package synthesizes public articles, an interview, a syllabus and program descriptions. It does not reproduce simulator rules, scoring or private course materials. Negotiation Dynamics: The Game was developed jointly by Costa and Ingemar Dierickx; the current program describes Deal Maker, developed with Galo IT. The brief, tables and review gates here are practical adaptations, not official course templates. [S1][S7]

Procedure

Read the relevant sections of references/method.md as you work. Use templates/output-template.md for the brief; omit only fields irrelevant to the user's task and explain consequential gaps. Keep facts, hypotheses and illustrative figures visibly separate.

1. Define the assignment and diagnose the setting. Establish the decision, parties, deadline, negotiating authority and whether the task is preparation, review or debrief. Classify the setting before recommending an opening or concession. See method: situation diagnosis. [S3]

2. Reconstruct the relationship state. Record prior agreements, separate unilateral decisions, external changes and current constraints. Identify what each previous move changed in subsequent options, information and cooperation. See method: relationship state. [S2]

3. Select the critical unknowns. Rank unanswered questions by whether the answer could change the boundary, agenda or package. Draft genuine diagnostic questions, with a stated consequence for each answer. See method: information. [S4]

4. Prepare distinct negotiating positions. Separate the limit, target, opening proposal and concession responses. Explain the evidence and dependencies behind each; leave unsupported values unresolved. See method: boundaries. [S3]

5. Check credibility before proposing terms. Test promises against capacity and authority, openings against defensibility, and offer revisions against substantive reasons. Fix foreseeable credibility damage before optimizing persuasion. See method: boundaries. [S5]

6. Map interests and differences. Distinguish demanded terms from underlying interests. Identify differences in costs, capabilities, preferences and expectations; mark counterpart priorities as hypotheses until supported. See method: variables. [S6]

7. Build linked packages. Connect concessions to reciprocal terms rather than settling issues independently. Show why each side might prefer the exchange, and verify the whole package against the user's boundary. See method: packages and worked examples. [S5][S6]

8. Test future consequences and uncertainty. Compare immediate gains with later flexibility, information access, credibility and capacity. Specify plausible alternative conditions and unresolved agreement mechanics without inventing simulator scores. See method: packages. [S2][S3]

9. Prepare a response to tension. Identify escalation signals and choose a courteous question, agenda reset or clarification that restores joint analysis. Preserve the boundary while removing threats and personal attacks. See method: process. [S5]

10. Rehearse and revise. Test the agenda and package against likely objections, new information and a refusal. Discuss with the user's team when available; revise the diagnosis when an answer changes the situation. See method: rehearsal. [S7]

11. Deliver or record the round. Produce the brief; after a negotiation, record agreement or non-agreement, unilateral decisions and process observations separately. Capture deadlines and unresolved commitments. See output template. [S7]

12. Review and update. Run checklists/review-checklist.md, repair material failures, identify the most damaging plausible mistake and set one observable improvement for the next round. Update the relationship state with feedback, not just the price achieved. [S2][S4]

Files in this skill

• SKILL.md: Entry point, use cases and the agent's main loop.
• references/method.md: Detailed principles, decision rules, explicit warnings and edge cases.
• references/sources.md: Seven fetched public sources and their contributions, keyed by citation number.
• examples/worked-examples.md: Two invented illustrations comparing weak drafts with complete improved briefs.
• templates/output-template.md: Fill-in negotiation brief and round record with field guidance.
• checklists/review-checklist.md: Pass/fail review gates, common failures and practical fixes.