Hermes Simulacrum

What The Tool Does

Hermes supports negotiation preparation — the work that determines most of a negotiation's outcome and that most negotiators shortchange. The moves available inside the negotiation itself are determined by the homework done before it: who is on the other side, what they actually want (versus what they say they want), where the zone of possible agreement lies, what the best alternative to a negotiated agreement looks like for both parties, and what the specific sequence of offers and responses should be.

How The Tool Thinks

The framework Hermes applies is grounded in the interest-based negotiation tradition associated with Roger Fisher and the Harvard Program on Negotiation, extended with the practical literature on commercial negotiation and the more recent game-theoretic work on information asymmetry. It moves through four stages: mapping (who, what, why, when, where), interest analysis (what each side actually needs versus what each side is demanding), option generation (creative value-creating moves that expand the pie before it is divided), and sequencing (the order in which issues should be surfaced, proposals made, and concessions offered).

The tool is configured to push hard on the user's assumptions about the other side. Most negotiators enter with a cartoon version of their counterparty; Hermes insists on a fuller, more human picture before any strategy can be trusted.

What It Can And Cannot Do

Hermes can prepare the negotiator substantively and can war-game likely scenarios. It cannot read the specific dynamics in the room, nor manage the emotional pressure of a live negotiation. It also cannot replace the relationship-building that determines whether the other side will deal honestly in future. The preparation is one layer of a negotiation, and preparation is what this tool is for.