I took a client to open book management pioneer SRC Corporation last week. For them it was an eye opener. For me it was a reinforcement of what’s possible when a company shares vast amounts of the right information with its people. They make smarter decisions and take performance to unheard of heights.

Since I promised to deliver Part Two of our prior blog, here it is. As a recap, I blogged last time about how challenging it can be to focus on numbers that tend to change even after you’ve technically closed the books on an accounting period. It can be difficult and confusing to determine what number you’re starting your new period off with because your books close so many weeks after the period ends.

  Emily Litella, in one of her typical on-air rants: “What’s this I hear about computer parking lots? We’re in a recession, people are losing their jobs, and now we have parking lots for computers! It’s an outrageous waste of land and money!”

The race to end the accounting year is full of twists and turns. You really don’t know where you are going to end up until that final day where your year officially ends, after which you can begin the arduous process to close your books. But those twists and turns sure make life interesting to plan for.

Rethinking the Debate Over the 99-to-1 I hold a staff meeting every week here at SRC. We go over the financials of the company and anything else of material significance. This is a critical part of how we communicate to our associates. It keeps a constant flow of information coming and going. You always hear a lot of companies talking about their “communication problems.” Well, I think the problem is that we don’t give people enough information to communicate.

“What gets measured gets managed.” It’s hard to argue with that piece of wisdom. That said, here’s another old saw to consider: “If everything is important, then nothing is important.” Between these two valuable quotes is a balance and a guideline for business owners. All businesses have certain numbers that define success. Some, like profit, are universal. Every business must take in more than it spends, so an argument could be made that this number – profit - is a definition of success for every business.

I consider myself a student of business. I love to learn and to push myself to understand every nuance that distinguishes success from failure. That's why I was so drawn to Bo Burlingham almost 30 years ago. Bo, who was then a young writer for Inc. magazine (www.inc.com), and I struck up what has become a 30-year friendship based on a simple idea: we wanted to dig as deeply as we could into every idea, decision or best practice involved in running a successful business. That's how Bo and I came to write two books together as well as, for a while at least, a column for Inc. I'll admit that it wasn't always easy. In fact, it was downright frustrating at times. Bo is relentless in asking questions and it can drive you crazy. But he was asking those questions because he, too, has this desire to learn and understand. And I deeply respect that.

Leadership. What the heck is company leadership anyway? And why should a small business owner care? Some folks use the word “leadership” as a synonym for influence. Let’s expand that definition to include a couple of other important activities:

As I write this in November 2011, the “Occupy Wall Street” protest and all its spin-offs in cities all over the world have been going on for about two months. But cities, businesses and the general public are tiring of their antics. Trash is piling up, legitimate events are being moved to avoid problems, and costs are soaring. Worse, the purportedly peaceful encampments are now producing murder, suicide, sexual attacks and clashes with police. Chances are, they will still be in place by the time this publication hits your desk in December.

How is 2011 turning out for you? Check one: [ ] Pretty rough [ ] Fair [ ] Great! Even if you chose “Great”, it’s hard to be optimistic when unemployment is high and many of the most powerful people in our government seem determined to punish achievement via the tax code. Until fairly recently, entrepreneurs were celebrated and respected. It was all about the American Dream.