Step 4: 3. Exploiting Crisis

4. Reward Vulnerability > 3. Using Vulnerabilities > 3. Exploiting Crisis

Which of the following best describes what you use the crisis to your advantage?

1. I need to know how exploit an opponent's vulnerabilities during their crisis.
   9.5 Crisis Exploitation

   9.5 Crisis Exploitation

   "When you use fire to assist your attacks, you are clever."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 12:3:1

   Situation: 

   While our primary concern is defending our position during a crisis, we cannot overlook opportunities to use a crisis against rivals, but sparking a crisis to attack an opponent is very dangerous. The firestorms that we spark are unpredictable and can easily blow back on us. One of the most common and easily avoidable mistakes in competitive strategy is to focus on hurting competitors rather than on advancing our own position. If these attacks weaken our position while destroying a competitor, it is just a matter of time until a new competitor arises to attack our weakened position. No matter how many competitors we destroy, we will always have new competitors arise to take their place (1.3.1 Competitive Comparison).

2. I need to know how to maintain my vigilance and not risk my position awaiting a crisis.
   9.6 Constant Vigilance

   9.6 Constant Vigilance

   "You can watch and guard for years.
   Then a single battle can determine victory in a day."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 13:1:10-11

   Situation: 

   Constant vigilance sounds good, but it presents a real challenge. Though the world is constantly changing, we are often blind to change. We offer an exercise in our live training that demonstrates how difficult to see what has changed in a static picture much less a complex situation (3.0 Identifying Opportunities). Since we miss so many of the critical changes taking place around us, facing the dynamics of change requires courage. Since the unknown creates fear, we are often in denial about the changes taking place around us. This is especially important regarding our vulnerabilities. Positions naturally decay over time. As positions get older, they become more and more vulnerable.