Each of these social sector organizations; Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Pregnancy Care Center, and Victory Mission + Ministry are part of a growing community of Great Game™ practitioners who have reimagined capitalism as a transformational force for good. Each year, the Great Game Community recognizes organizations like these who have the courage to do business differently. They are using the power of business to transform their associate's lives and the communities which they serve, for the better. They are part of a movement that's trying to 'Change the Game'.

Each of these companies; Cherry's Industrial, Cisco-Eagle, Clarke EyeCare Center, and CMS Outdoor Solutions are part of a growing community of Great Game™ companies who have reimagined capitalism as a transformational force for good. Each year, the Great Game Community recognizes companies like these who have the courage to do business differently. They are using the power of business to transform their associate's lives and the communities which they serve, for the better. They are part of a movement that's trying to 'Change the Game'.

Each of these companies; 1st Pet Vet, 417 Magazine, AMBAC, and Argent Tape and Label are part of a growing community of Great Game companies who have reimagined capitalism as a transformational force for good. Each year, the Great Game™ Community recognizes companies like these who have the courage to do business differently. They are using the power of business to transform their associate's lives and the communities which they serve, for the better. They are part of a movement that's trying to 'Change the Game'.

Let's face it, the most important thing in business is CASH. Cash is the oxygen of every business. When you have cash, your business can breathe. Cash enables it to survive and prosper. While businesses can survive for a short time without growing in sales or profits, without cash it simply will not survive. This is why the inflow and outflow of cash must be carefully watched and managed.

Leaders everywhere are naturally expected to have all the answers. Unfortunately, this is one of the long standing myths of management. While the expectation is for you to know all the answers and you feel like you should have all the answers all the time it just isn't sustainable. You're bound to break at some point and many leaders find sharing obstacles the company faces with their team provides benefits for everyone involved.

Do you feel like your leadership team is finally ready to take the leap and open the books? But, you're worried some of your team aren't as enthusiastic as you hoped they would be? If you’re ready to start sharing your financial and operational information with employees, but you get the sense they’re just not ready yet, there could be some very logical – and common – reasons why. Today we discuss the top four reasons employees aren't ready to jump on the open-book management bandwagon. Maybe there's one or two that apply to your team.

Deciding to implement a business system like open-book management is not something business owners take lightly. It's a powerful business tool that takes time, energy and commitment to follow through and keep going if you want to see the benefits. There's two ways to implement: Do it yourself - aka "Self Implementation". Hire business coaches to help. If you’ve been following the Great Game™ blog for a while, it's likely you've come across a few articles detailing each of these options. If you’re considering a DIY approach to getting started with open-book management, here are a few things to consider during the process.

In The Great Game of Business, Jack Stack shares his experiences and lessons learned throughout the years, including what he was taught about management early in his career. What was the most important lesson he learned about management? Ignore almost all of those "best practices." What he was being taught and what he had learned about management were entirely different! He discovered that the practice of management is filled with myths guaranteed to screw up any company, and we've compiled our blogs on the 5 Myths of Management here:

You and your team have come up with your Critical Number™: the one metric that represents a weakness or vulnerability that, if not addressed and corrected, will negatively impact the overall performance and long-term security of the business. But now what? How do you successfully start making things happen and impacting that number? With targeted day-to-day improvements that add up to long-term success. MiniGames™are an engaging, short-term activity designed to pursue an opportunity or correct a weakness within a company. They bring a laser focus to those everyday, small wins that put us that much closer to the big win and help drive short-term performance metrics that contribute to a year-end revenue goal or Critical Number. Take this example from Get in the Game. By focusing on something as simple as spoons, the chain reaction resulted in a $1 million impact in revenue in just one year at Kerbey Lane Cafe:

You've heard the Great Game of Business® is about transforming your business to achieve Rapid Financial Results and Lasting Cultural Change™. But, you might be wondering: what results do our real practitioners experience? We've pulled together some of the amazing results and transformation from our 2019 All-Star champions. The principles of Great Game™ are time-tested to produce amazing results like these below. Could this be you?