We are always expending energy. The energy we use either hurts us or helps us, moving us backward or forward. Throughout the day, we navigate events using our focus. As our energy follows that focus, we are always headed in one direction or the other on what is called the Energy Map. People who know how to direct energy, both within themselves and others, have a distinct advantage in and out of the workplace. They create greater results.

More and more companies these days have begun to pay attention to the topic of employee engagement as a way to help drive their future growth and workplace culture. Unlike the days of old, when workers - especially those on the frontline - were expected to do little more than punch a clock and perform rote tasks, today’s leading organizations have come to appreciate how valuable it can be for manufacturing workplace culture in particular when employees throughout every level of the company bring their passion and creativity with them to work every day.

It is inevitable that privately held companies will face some type of ownership transition event. Too often business owners delay or avoid employee ownership transition planning which can result in severe consequences, including deterioration of company value and sustainability as well as family wealth and security. Business owners should be mindful of these consequences, while also realizing that “planning” does not necessarily mean execution of a strategy today. Also, understanding the process and alternatives available can help demystify the topic and help business owners understand the value of planning for this “once in a lifetime” event.

“The numbers in a business are just stories about people.” - Jack Stack, CEO of SRC Holdings and author of The Great Game of Business What are your company’s numbers, and how do you use them to assign accountabilities to departments and people?

Sharing information with employees is the foundation of an ownership culture. But too often old (and flawed) cultural beliefs conflict with an ownership culture and result in more confusion and fear about employee information sharing than advancing the company’s goals.

Why your company needs financial literacy training for successful open-book management. Have you ever watched a preschooler try to read a book? My youngest child has “read” me books since she was two – using only the pictures to come up with a story that might fit. My eight year old can pick up the same book and read it word-for-word. I would love to say it is because he is a super-genius, but the only difference between the two kids is education – he is literate because he has been taught to read. In business, we have to learn to read as well, except we don’t get colorful picture books. We get boring financial statements with the occasional highlighted section.

What can a truly engaged work huddle do for your Game play? There is tremendous excitement over the Great Game of Business when a company first begins to play The Game. The honeymoon phase usually lasts about as long as The Games are going well, but every once in a while, as a leader, you might be faced with some unengaged employees during your weekly huddles.

In our last post, we shared details from the methodology-focused tracks (Know & Teach the Rules, Follow the Action & Keep Score and Provide a Stake in the Outcome). Today, we'll continue to share highlights from the 22nd Annual Gathering of Games agenda by looking at the three featured tracks for the 2014 Conference.

We've all experienced it. We call the 1-800 support number only to experience numerous interchanges where we "order up" a solution to our problem via a multitude of automated commands... only to get disconnected or get denied service when we finally reach a real person.

The Annual Gathering of Games provides learning opportunities for beginner, intermediate and advanced Great Game® practitioners. We're able to bring you both new takes on foundational open-book practices as well as fresh ideas to take your Game to the next level by choosing speakers who are Great Game practitioners themselves.