The clause library
Each clause holds the variants you use — the preferred position, one or more fallbacks, and the position you will not go beyond. Recording them all together is the point: a library holding only the preferred wording is a library that cannot help during a negotiation, which is when help is actually needed.
Limitation of liability
4 variants · used in 61 documents
Playbooks
A playbook says which variant applies in which circumstance — by counterparty size, by contract value, by risk, by whatever your firm actually uses to decide. It is the institutional knowledge that usually lives in one senior person's head and gets asked for at six o'clock on a Friday.
| A playbook records | Which answers |
|---|---|
| The preferred position | What we ask for. |
| The acceptable fallbacks, in order | What we concede, and in what sequence. |
| The walk-away | What we do not accept. |
| Who can approve an exception | The question that otherwise escalates every time. |
| Why | So the next person understands rather than obeys. |
A playbook is believed. If a position changed and the playbook did not, somebody will concede something the firm no longer concedes, and they will do it confidently. Put a review date on each one and treat an out-of-date playbook as a defect rather than as a document that is merely a bit old.
What this does not do
Anyone with the module can edit the library.
A clause has a current state.
Beyond a count, there is no analysis of which fallbacks are being reached.
A review date is a note, not a trigger.
Questions
How many variants should a clause have?
As many as you genuinely use. Three is common; ten means the library is doing the deciding.
Can playbooks differ by client?
By the criteria you define, which can include the counterparty.
Who should own the library?
One named person. A library owned by everyone is maintained by nobody.