The Art of War: Warrior Rules - winning by comparing positions

Seven rules for improving internal production to support external competition.

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This article explains how claiming rewards depends on our productive skills as well as our competitive skills. Our strategic positions have both an inside and an outside. The outside is the surface where our position makes contact with the competitive environment, the realm of strategy. The inside is our span of control, the realm of planning. Through planning and organization, we are able to improve our internal systems and make ourselves more productive within our span of control. The problem is that internal systems take on a life of their own. This problem only gets worse when strategic positions are successful, growing and expanding over time. As a position grows into an organization, its internal systems gradually become more and more isolated from the external environment.