We've had almost a full three-weeks to unwind after the 19th Annual Gathering of Games. Everyone here at GGOB had a great time, but I thought I'd share my personal "Top Ten" from the 2011 Conference: 10) The awesome staff at The Hyatt. Special thanks to Deandre; with his help we managed to unload our truck in ONE load (the usual is 6+) and Sondra “The Iced Tea Queen”. 9) Our dinner at Caleco’s with the ladies of SRC and our special guests Linda from Telisimo and Tammy from Creative Roots.

Are you playing The Game to your full potential? Without a doubt, The Game is a process that should be adapted to your company’s environment, not adopted or replicated. However, there are a few key questions you should ask yourself to determine if you are missing a critical step in playing The Game.

"Open my books to my employees? Are you crazy? If they see how much profit we make around here, they’ll want a raise!” If that’s your sentiment about sharing numbers, I have a news flash for you: They already want a raise. There is a flip side to this argument. It goes something like this: “Open my books to my employees? Are you crazy? If they see how much money we’re losing around here, they’ll leave!” Regardless of your position on financial transparency, here are some tips for making this transition smooth and worthwhile.

We hear it all the time. So much, in fact, that we made it the tag line for the "Experience It" portion of the Great Game® process. Open-book management might sound like common sense, but let's be honest, the fastest way to make any project go haywire is to assume it's too simple to mess up. As a victim of the 'do-it-yourself' complex, I've learned the hard way that sometimes there are tasks that aren't quite as easy as they look (specifically anything that involves a blow torch or a chainsaw).

Over the past few months, the team at Great Game has had the opportunity to chat with several different folks in the Open-Book community. During my own conversations, I made a surprising finding; on more than one occasion, the person let me in on one key activity they were neglecting: forecasting. Many of you would agree that forecasting financials in business is a vital part of your Huddle meetings and annual planning. However, there are probably others that would share that you don't forecast at all.

How many times as a child (or even recently) have you been given the advice to ‘face your fears’? Surely we’ve all received motivational advice from someone who urged us to conquer our fear by actually looking it right in the eyes. With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss three little words that are known to scare business-people all over the world: Open-Book Management. There, I said it; are you scared?

"Should You Do It Yourself?" - Bill Collier, St. Louis Area Coach There are two conflicting schools of thought about running a small business: - Do as much as possible in-house and keep your expenses down. - Subcontract everything except your core money-making activities so you aren’t distracted. As in anything, moderation is the key. An over-zealous attitude about either method is a formula for disaster. Do everything yourself and you will kill progress as you agonize over a million details.

At The Great Game of Business we have the opportunity to meet lots of interesting and passionate people. Some time ago I had the opportunity to have a conversation with someone interested in Open-Book Management in a very unique business: outfitting new museums and airports with their final architectural finishes.