The Great Game of Business is a philosophy emphasizing open-book management, employee engagement, and financial transparency to drive business performance and success. Every employee at your business will understand the company's financials and how their individual roles give them a stake in the outcome for themselves and their work.
We think playing The Game offers a great opportunity for your business to achieve new heights.
However, we know we’re not the only management framework out there for small to medium-sized businesses. And our way of thinking might not be the best fit for every company.
Another business management model you might consider is the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). While it does have its merits, The Great Game of Business offers a different way of thinking than most business philosophies out there.
Take a look at five ways The Great Game of Business is more effective than the EOS business model.
1. Organizational Alignment
You want everyone on the same page when it comes to moving your business in the right direction. This means aligning your organization to achieve its goals. Much like a football team needs to know what the play is before the ball is put into play, your teams need the right tools and strategies to help your company progress toward profitability.
Both EOS and The Great Game of Business offer distinct paths to organizational alignment to achieve goals. Each framework has unique strengths tailored to different business needs.
EOS relies heavily on structured systems and tools that drive leadership teams toward clearly defined goals. The Great Game of Business, on the other hand, leverages financial transparency and employee engagement to create a participatory culture where everyone contributes to success.
Which one you favor depends on how your business operates.
Organizational Alignment Within EOS
Leadership teams establish alignment through a top-down approach in EOS. Tools like the Vision/Traction Organizer and an Accountability Chart guide managers when setting strategic priorities. These tools clarify roles and responsibilities so that leaders can direct the organization accurately. The goal is to make teamwork more efficient and focused.
EOS emphasizes execution through adherence to processes like Rocks (quarterly reports) and Level 10 Meetings (weekly team meetings). These tools keep leadership teams aligned and accountable while making progress. Leaders set the agenda and assign action items.
EOS is designed to foster input from everyone on the team. However, a restrictive meeting agenda and strictly assigned roles may limit the creative input and initiative of employees. Alignment requires managerial oversight rather than a collective effort. EOS excels at a clearly defined structure and processes. However, those can stifle innovation when employees may feel restricted by the bounds of those processes.
Rigid organizational alignment works well for stable environments but struggles to adapt in dynamic industries where creativity and flexibility drive success.
Organizational Alignment Within The Great Game of Business
Look to The Great Game of Business for a more broad-based approach and adaptable organizational alignment. Our system fosters alignment by educating employees about the financial mechanics of the business and empowering them to take the initiative in meetings and with their weekly tasks.
Teams learn how their daily activities impact critical financial outcomes. Rather than managers dictating the progress of their teams, all employees learn to align their actions with company objectives. Players of the game are engaged because they understand.
The goal is to help everyone, including new hires, align themselves with company goals at all levels. Involving everyone in tracking key metrics by playing The Game builds a shared sense of ownership among all employees.
Think of The Great Game of Business as a football team on offense. Every role on the field is important. Everyone should be empowered to make decisions as each play progresses with the goal of gaining yardage. Yes, there is a play called in the huddle that comes from the coach. Yes, the quarterback is the one who distributes the ball. But everyone needs to know where to be during each stage of the play.
Adaptation with each individual is where The Great Game of Business excels. Everyone shares the responsibility of making the right play on the football field. If a player sees a defense that doesn’t align with the play called, they can improvise to try to make the play more successful.
Our football metaphor is an oversimplification, but it’s valid.
Shared responsibility comes from employees participating in MiniGames™ and tracking progress against critical numbers. These reinforce a connection between employee contributions and organizational goals. Employees and leaders work together toward common objectives.
Our transparency and engagement model thrive in dynamic environments. Teams collaborate to solve problems, celebrate wins, and innovate to improve performance. This participatory culture cultivates resilience and adaptability when times are good and when things become more difficult. Employees feel invested in outcomes, resulting in greater motivation and commitment to organizational goals.
Why The Great Game of Business Can Be Better for Organizational Alignment
GGOB delivers a superior model by creating a sense of shared purpose. Open-book management teaches every employee to understand how their work contributes to success. The entire workforce, not just managers, is involved in decision-making and performance tracking.
If your business prioritizes empowerment, innovation, and adaptability, you may find greater success with GGOB’s inclusive approach, which means you don’t just hire employees. You build businesspeople and create an ownership culture.
Another benefit of The Great Game of Business is how a company responds during lean times. You might be surprised how things turn out for companies when a crisis hits when they play The Great Game of Business.
Why GGOB fosters better organizational alignment:
- Employee-driven alignment with daily workplace huddles
- Dynamic and adaptive framework that encourages collaboration
- Improved communication across teams with open-book management by reducing siloed work
2. Employee Engagement
EOS and GGOB approach employee engagement through different frameworks. EOS focuses on structure and clarity, while GGOB centers on transparency and empowerment. These contrasting approaches influence how employees connect with their roles and the broader organization.
Why is employee engagement crucial for your business? Retention, first and foremost. There’s something to be said for employees who love coming to work every day for 10, 20, even 30 years. Retaining employees not only helps you save money on recruitment costs but also showcases that there is no replacement for experience.
Keeping valuable employees on staff is crucial for long-term success. Employee engagement is one way to help retain happy workers.
Employee Engagement With EOS
EOS creates a framework for employees to understand their responsibilities and priorities within their roles. This system encourages focus and consistency. However, it treats employee engagement as a byproduct of organizational alignment rather than prioritizing your most valuable assets.
EOS relies on leadership teams to set the tone for engagement. While this process keeps leaders connected to organizational priorities, it may leave employees on the sidelines rather than giving them a stake in their everyday tasks.
The EOS model delivers consistency through its clear and structured processes. But, this rigidity may leave employees feeling stifled. Employees follow predefined paths in EOS, which can lead to disengagement over time if they lack opportunities to innovate. Again, EOS works well for companies that thrive on the same tried-and-true processes that have worked for years.
Employee Engagement With The Great Game of Business
The Great Game of Business prioritizes employee engagement by fostering a participatory culture built on financial literacy and open communication among everyone. Employees want to work in a place where what they do matters.
When have you ever celebrated an achievement that you accomplished on your own? Think about a time you drove to work on your own for the first time as a teenager or wrote a college paper and aced it. Employee engagement starts with empowering everyone to do their jobs and celebrating their successes.
This approach transforms engagement into an active process where individuals contribute ideas, track progress, and celebrate achievements together. Playing the game recognizes individuals and the team, emphasizing that both aspects are important.
It’s like when someone scores a touchdown, and the scorer spikes the ball. Yes, the person who crossed the goal line as a runner or threw and caught the ball as a passer and receiver gets credit for the score. But everyone celebrates as a team after the touchdown because it took everyone to make the play happen.
GGOB fosters better employee engagement through decision-making, sharing critical financial information, and encouraging participation in tracking key metrics on a weekly basis. MiniGames™ and shared scoreboards create opportunities for collaboration and friendly competition where people are encouraged to contribute and improve continuously.
Employees feel a deeper connection to their roles because they see tangible results from their contributions as a whole and individually. They will see revenue and profit figures for the company. But they also realize benefits and financial incentives such as employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or performance bonuses.
Engagement is embedded into the company’s daily operations with GGOB. Employees play an active role in identifying problems, proposing solutions, and achieving individual and company goals. Profit-sharing and other incentives tied to organizational success amplify the effect. The culture created by GGOB values every contribution, reinforcing the importance of each individual’s work.
Why The Great Game of Business Can Be Better for Employee Engagement
Do you want lasting engagement and less turnover with your employees? GGOB’s inclusive and empowering approach gives employees a stake in the outcome where everyone values individual contributions. Workers gain a sense of ownership and pride.
Manufacturing seems to be a relatively rigid process and needs employees to follow a set structure. Machines create end products every day in an orderly fashion. But even manufacturers can benefit from The Game of Business!
The main reason why playing The Game is important for manufacturers comes from workplace culture. Everyone, from plant managers to new hires, learns company financials and understands how their role affects the bottom line.
Our participatory model not only boosts morale but also drives performance and innovation, making GGOB a better choice for cultivating an engaged and motivated workforce.
- Bottom-up engagement for decision-making and problem-solving
- Real-time focus on key metrics and critical numbers versus quarterly with EOS
- Incentive-based motivation through bonuses and ESOPs tied to performance goals, shared accountability, and tangible benefits
- Enhanced ownership and commitment with a stronger sense of purpose
3. Accountability and Metrics
EOS and GGOB take contrasting approaches to accountability and metrics, shaping how organizations monitor the performance of key metrics.
How EOS Handles Accountability
Leadership teams assign accountability through tools like the Accountability Chart and quarterly reports. Each individual receives clear responsibilities tied to specific quarterly goals so they can focus on weekly tasks.
Weekly Level 10 Meetings reinforce this accountability by providing a forum for reviewing progress, discussing issues, and holding team members accountable for their commitments. This structured process delivers clarity and a top-down approach.
Metrics in EOS serve as a cornerstone for driving accountability. Leadership teams develop Scorecards to track critical performance indicators every week. These metrics provide a snapshot of organizational health, helping leaders identify areas requiring attention.
EOS helps employees follow predefined goals without necessarily understanding how their work contributes to broader organizational objectives. This approach can create a disconnect between daily tasks and long-term outcomes.
How The Great Game of Business Handles Accountability
GGOB promotes accountability by making everyone responsible for the organization’s financial health, from owners to new hires. That’s where the Critical Number comes into play and what people can do to improve that number.
Employees learn how their actions impact key financial outcomes and track performance through shared scoreboards. Shared scorecards are designed to keep everyone accountable. This approach shifts the focus from individual tasks to collective results, fostering a sense of shared ownership. Teams feel accountable not just to leaders but to each other, creating a more inclusive culture of responsibility.
Back to the football analogy. Let’s say a top receiver drops a pass on third down that would have earned the team enough yards to get a first down as well as put them into field goal range. Instead, the team chooses to punt. In the next series, the coach calls a play to put the ball in the hands of the same receiver. This time, the person makes the play, and the team marches downfield to score a touchdown.
This football metaphor illustrates another point. While data and numbers are important, it’s also vital to remember that the employees of the company are people. You need to remember the human story behind the numbers.
Business teams collaborate to improve metrics through MiniGames™ created to address specific challenges or achieve targeted improvements. Think of this as calling the next play on the field. This hands-on involvement creates a stronger connection between individual efforts and organizational success, making metrics a dynamic tool for fostering accountability rather than a static figure that barely moves from week to week.
GGOB addresses the limitations of EOS by helping everyone understand the company’s financials and see their direct impact on results. Teams naturally hold themselves and each other accountable rather than at the behest of management. Of course, there are ways to offer encouragement when teams need to improve metrics rather than through negative reinforcement, which is why playing the game is so crucial.
Why Choose The Great Game of Business for Accountability?
Although both EOS and the Great Game of Business have easy ways to track metrics, GGOB fosters a shared responsibility for improving key metrics. Teammates encourage each other after drops and celebrate each other with wins.
When you create a culture of accountability and metrics, your company benefits more from GGOB’s inclusive and empowering framework. Employees define, track, and improve key metrics and foster a sense of ownership that drives engagement and performance by playing The Game.
Our focus is on shared goals and collective responsibility, creating a resilient and adaptable workforce that leads to sustained success. Yet The Great Game of Business also fosters individual success with engagement and financial incentives.
- Real-time progress tracking through shared scoreboards and regular updates on critical numbers.
- Incentivized engagement that links metrics to profit-sharing and rewards.
- Collaborative problem-solving to address issues affecting key metrics,
- Proactive adaptation through the continuous monitoring of metrics
4. Problem-Solving
EOS and GGOB offer distinct frameworks for problem-solving, each influencing how organizations identify, address, and resolve challenges.
How EOS Solves Problems
EOS employs a structured method called the IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) process to address issues. This method is used during weekly Level 10 Meetings to prioritize and resolve challenges. This systematic approach ensures that problems receive attention, with leaders taking responsibility for solutions. The goal is to look at the three top issues affecting a company during a week.
Team leaders and managers control and refine the process, ensuring alignment with strategic goals. However, this top-down structure may overlook valuable insights from employees on the front lines, leading to solutions that miss operational nuances or employee buy-in.
The EOS model prioritizes consistency and efficiency in problem-solving, relying on predefined frameworks to guide discussions. While this approach maintains order, it often sacrifices flexibility. Teams may struggle to adapt to complex or unexpected challenges that demand more dynamic or collaborative solutions.
How The Great Game of Business Solves Problems
GGOB encourages problem-solving from employees at all levels when identifying and addressing challenges. It starts with critical numbers. When they fall short, employees collaborate to determine causes and implement solutions. This collective approach broadens perspectives and fosters innovative solutions.
Employees are stewards of their own critical numbers, and they are empowered to solve problems using their expertise and knowledge. MiniGames™ serve as targeted initiatives to tackle specific issues, with teams brainstorming and executing creative strategies. This hands-on engagement cultivates a sense of ownership, ensuring solutions resonate with employees and align with operational realities.
Here’s where The Great Game of Business excels. In Super Bowl LIV (54) in February 2019, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs famously requested a play called “Wasp” on the sidelines before a big play to his top receiver Tyreek Hill. Normally, the coach (Andy Reid) calls the play at the advice of his offensive coordinator (Eric Bieniemy at the time). However, because the coaches trusted their players, they went with Mahomes’s call. The play worked, changed the course of the game, and led to the Chiefs winning their first Super Bowl in 50 years.
The quarterback calling the team’s own play wasn’t an accident. The coaches created an adaptable structure and workplace culture where a player who sees tendencies in the other team can make suggestions for improvement.
Another example of this was the “13 Seconds” game for the Chiefs at home versus the Buffalo Bills during the 2021 AFC divisional playoffs. Mahomes and Travis Kelce both knew what the Bills were doing on defense, and they agreed to run a play that would exploit a weakness in Buffalo’s pass coverage. Mahomes surveyed the defense before the snap of the ball and barked out, “Do it, Kels,” meaning run the play they discussed in the huddle and on the sidelines. It worked to perfection. The Chiefs kicked a game-tying field goal after that play call before winning the game in overtime.
GGOB thrives on flexibility and innovation by empowering employees to act as problem-solvers. Financial and operational data transparency allows teams to identify emerging issues early, promoting proactive rather than reactive responses. Employees feel empowered to experiment with solutions, driving continuous improvement across the organization through an open workplace culture.
Why Choose the Great Game of Business for Enhanced Accountability?
Both systems provide structured approaches for identifying and resolving challenges.
We’re not saying your team will win a Super Bowl. But we are saying that changing your company culture can have lasting benefits.
Engaging with employees, especially those who work on the front lines every day, can identify and resolve challenges more readily. We aim to help you create a culture of ownership, innovation, and accountability. You’ll find more sustainable, long-term results with our framework.
- Enhanced employee ownership by understanding how their actions impact critical metrics
- Open-book management ensures everyone has access to key financial and operational data, creating trust and better decision-making.
- Shared scoreboards and regular updates on critical numbers keep teams focused and aligned with daily tasks and company goals.
- Metrics are linked to profit-sharing and rewards, motivating employees to actively improve performance and take accountability for results.
5. Process Documentation
EOS and GGOB approach process documentation in distinct ways. EOS emphasizes standardized systems to streamline operations, while GGOB focuses on adaptability and collaboration to refine processes.
Process Documentation and EOS
EOS relies on clear, standardized process documentation to maintain consistency. Leaders identify core processes and outline them step-by-step, ensuring repeatability and scalability. It creates predictability and reproducibility for industries that favor scalable results.
Leaders and managers drive process documentation efforts by defining workflows at the top level. They oversee implementation and compliance among team members. The EOS model prioritizes consistency, often relying on rigid processes to achieve operational efficiency.
While this helps organizations scale and maintain quality, it struggles to adapt to changing circumstances. Processes documented through EOS risk becoming outdated if the organization lacks a mechanism for ongoing review and improvement. The top-down approach establishes control with established processes. However, it could exclude frontline employees who understand daily operations intimately and could offer valuable insights for innovation.
Process Documentation When Playing The Great Game of Business
GGOB emphasizes collaborative process improvement through transparency and engagement. Instead of rigid documentation, GGOB encourages employees to understand how their actions influence organizational outcomes through high-involvement planning. Teams take ownership of workflows and identify inefficiencies or opportunities for optimization, creating processes that evolve alongside the business. This dynamic approach fosters adaptability and innovation, which are two keys to business success.
Playing the Game shows how teams collaborate to develop workflows that improve critical metrics. This bottom-up involvement creates a sense of ownership and ensures that processes remain practical and relevant to daily tasks.
Here’s how gamifying could work with our methodology. Create early wins in daily MiniGames to spark innovation, collaboration, and trust. When those wins are celebrated, move to the larger wins every week, month, quarter, and year. Every company and practitioner we talk to has unique ways of playing The Great Game.
Teams document the wins every day before moving to the next wins. For example, a manufacturing line at the end of the day decreases damaged SKUs by 1%, which increases production from 1,000 pieces to 1,010. The next day’s goal is to decrease defects by another 1%. Over the course of 10 days, the amount of products created per line exceeds 1,100, an increase of 100 SKUs from the previous number.
At some point, something different will need to happen, such as new equipment will have to come in, more hours will be needed, improved parts are required, or new processes should be implemented because the line is working more efficiently than before. Or, when the line maxes out its efficiency, new pricing models can happen because orders are completed faster. Better pricing should, in theory, lead to greater profits.
This is an oversimplified example but a valid one. Documenting these successes every day can lead to innovations in how to move forward.
Why Select GGOB Over EOS?
Companies seeking sustainable process optimization benefit more from GGOB’s participatory model. By involving employees in developing, documenting, and refining workflows, GGOB fosters innovation and adaptability.
Our methodology aligns processes with real-time performance data to ensure that workflows support organizational goals effectively. For businesses aiming to create agile and resilient systems, GGOB offers a superior approach to process documentation and improvement.
- Employee-driven refinement by creating and improving workflows to align with real-world tasks.
- Documentation focuses on workflows that directly impact key performance indicators.
- Processes evolve dynamically as teams identify inefficiencies and implement improvements.
- GGOB fosters cross-functional input, allowing different departments to contribute to process optimization and share best practices.
- Open communication about processes helps employees understand the "why" behind workflows, increasing buy-in and giving them a stake in the outcome.
- Regular tracking of critical numbers encourages ongoing evaluation of workflows, ensuring processes support optimal performance.
- Teams gain the freedom to experiment with workflow changes, lending to creative solutions that enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Start Playing The Game
Build a business composed of people who think, act, and feel like owners. Thousands of companies we’ve helped over the past 30 years can attest to playing The Game. Read some of our many success stories here.
We can help your company create a sense of ownership in every employee at your company by teaching how to follow the Principles of the Game with three core foundations:
- Know & Teach the Rules
- Follow the Action & Keep Score
- Provide a Stake in the Outcome
Contact us to talk to a Great Game coach. We think you’ll be interested in what you find out.