Step 4: 1. Claiming Positions

4. Reward Vulnerability >2. Getting Rewarded > 1. Claiming Positions

Which of the following best describes what you need to know to claim rewards from advancing your position.

1. I need to understand how to recognize if my new position qualifies for a claim.
   8.1 Successful Positions

   8.1 Successful Positions

   "Many advantages add up to victory.
   Few advantages add up to defeat."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 1:5:6

   Situation: 

   Every advance is an experiment. The experiment proves itself only if it gives us rewards that make it worth the costs it takes to maintain that position. Winning a new position gets us closer to victory, but the new position must prove itself valuable, a victory in the most generic sense of the word. The strategic process is not complete at the point of victory. It isn't enough to win a dominating position. We must make that position pay.

   Many of us make the mistake of focusing on the day-to-day operational issues while losing sight of strategic issues. Strategic issues must always come first. Improving operations might allow us to produce more resources from a given position, but our position must make those resources available to us.

2. My position qualifies for a claim, but I need to understand why and how claims are made to get rewards.
   8.2 Making Claims

   8.2 Making Claims

   "Take the enemy's strength from him by stealing away his money."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 2:4:7

   Situation: 

   Many hard -working, creative, productive people never get rewarded because they fail to make appropriate claims. Some people are rewarded more for their efforts than others. This is not because the people with whom they deal are evil. It is only because the people with whom they deal are human. Benefits and rewards do not naturally flow from even the most advantageous position. If we want to get rewarded, we must understand what a claim is and why it is required to make claims in order to get rewarded.