Part of the “secret sauce” in playing The Great Game of Business is developing a consistent Huddle rhythm that includes forward forecasting your income statement by "line owners," or people close to the numbers that have responsibility for reporting each line of the P & L. The level at which associates embrace this practice varies across Huddle team members—some take it very seriously, while others devote little or no time to this critical process. As a coach who has been a part of hundreds, if not thousands, of Huddles, I've learned what to listen for in a forecast. When I hear phrases like these below, it alerts me to dig a little deeper and ask questions of the line owner to promote a better thought-out and more accurate forecast:

Over the last three years, I’ve interviewed over 200 highly successful CEOs, military officers, entrepreneurs and leadership gurus including John C. Maxwell, Ken Blanchard, Stephen M.R. Covey, Liz Wiseman, Kim Scott, Patty McCord and others. I always get them to reveal their number one secret to workplace leadership; what advice would they give to a younger version of themselves? After analyzing their answers 10 themes emerged.

As I was growing up on the shop floors of manufacturing plants, I was constantly bombarded with best practices that had names like total quality management, management by objectives and lean manufacturing. The idea was that the company’s management was trying to make us more productive and efficient. If one person could run a machine and still have time to stand around, we would give him two more machines to run. That was breakthrough thinking, essentially operating those two extra machines for free since we increased the productivity of this worker.

Global Recovery Corp, an engine and part supplier for the agricultural, highway trucking, industrial and automotive sectors, has seen the benefits of opening the books firsthand as a result of their dedication to the Great Game of Business® methodology. In addition to MiniGames™ like their recent $100K+ MiniGame featured on the GGOB Blog, GRC regularly practices the Huddle Cycle, rewards and recognition, and the High-Involvement Planning™ process to maximize engagement and involvement among their staff.  Here are some of the most recent advancements in their Game that have helped them double their planned PBT for the first quarter at 55% above plan. 

Every day brings a confusing mix of news about the economy. It can be tough to gauge how things are trending. Just when things look like they might calm down enough for everyone to get back to business, a trade war escalates or economists decide to lower their forecasts for future growth. The good news is that few economists expect a recession to hit anytime soon: for example, 60 economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect the next downturn in either 2020 or, more likely, 2021. But even if we aren’t looking at a recession tomorrow, all this turmoil should serve as a kind of alarm—a red alert to take action. If times are good in your business right now, you should be putting plans in place so that you’ll be able to handle the inevitable downturn to come. That’s where playing the Great Game of Business® can help. Here are four tips on how to prepare your organization to handle future turmoil:

  Excerpted from The Great Game of Business. The Great Fear #2 Is It Competitors You Fear—Or Your Own Employees?  Sad to say, a lot of companies hide their financials not because they're afraid of their competitors, but because they're afraid of their employees. They don't think people will understand the numbers, and there's some truth to that. If you don't show employees how to use financial information as a tool to help the company, they might well use it as a weapon against the company.

These three Great Game® videos illustrate an overview and the why behind Great Game methodology, highlight the origins of open-book management & the Great Game of Business®, and give a live example of one of our fundamental practices: the Huddle Cycle. Check them out to see how GGOB instills Lasting Cultural Change while promoting Rapid Financial Results™ in organizations across the globe. 

By definition, the Critical Number™ is the operational or financial number 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. Overall, the Critical Number is the heart of The Great Game of Business®. Each of our three fundamental processes (Know & Teach the Rules, Follow the Action & Keep Score and Provide a Stake in the Outcome®) revolves around educating, involving and engaging employees to improve the Critical Number.

 Excerpted from The Great Game of Business. How do you get to the point where you can even think about democratizing the workplace—about being a transparent business that gives people access to the numbers and therewith the means to control their destiny? Not by swallowing your pride and admitting that you don't have all the answers and can't make all the decisions. No, it's by swallowing your fear. The Great Fear #1 What If Competitors Get Hold of Your Numbers?

This is an employee engagement message from the heart. I’m doing my best to strip away HR-speak, academic jargon, and journalistic style in an attempt to actually reach crazy-busy front-line managers who’ve heard it all before. It’s my vain attempt to actually influence someone. Despite the best intentions of so many, the truth about employee engagement isn’t getting out. You need to understand…

Excerpted from The Great Game of Business. Like most American companies, International Harvester operated on the principle that everybody should focus on doing the specific job he or she was assigned. The corollary was that you should only give people the information required to do their specific jobs; everything else should be treated as some kind of corporate secret. Somehow it had become common wisdom that this was a good way to run a business—in fact, the only right way to run a business. That is the biggest myth of all.

From characteristics of successful GGOB practitioners, to forecasting tips, to biggest mistakes and how to avoid them, our Great Game® coaches tackle these common issues in this segment of "Ask the Coaches."