Fear. It can control any situation, including situations in the workplace. Fear of making mistakes, fear of criticism, fear of losing credibility to your peers and superiors, fear of feeling unprepared.... these all inhibit creativity and prevent what Dallan Guzinski calls "psychological safety," a feeling of safety allowing individuals to be comfortable  contributing ideas and feedback. Based on his experience working as Director of Culture and Engagement at The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Dallan introduces ways to build trust among your team and and more effectively solve serious workplace problems through classic improv techniques. 

In this blog series written by Great Game employees, we will highlight some of the highest rated sessions at the 2018 Gathering of Games conference. Account manager Dan Heisler covers the session "Begin with the Right Leadership: The Essentials of Leadership in a Great Game Company" led by certified Great Game Coach Kevin Walter. Based on his years working with Great Game companies, Kevin defines what it takes to become an effective leader in a Great Game and open-book environment. Here, he highlights the difference between traditional leadership styles and the most effective approach for Great Game companies, emphasizing the impact of having the right leadership in your organization.

  In this series written by Great Game employees, we will highlight some of the highest rated sessions at the 2018 Gathering of Games conference. In this blog, Donna Petiford, Great Game's Quality Assurance Manager, covers the session How to Engage, Motivate and Inspire Employees by John Williams. John, an 8-year Gathering of Games speaker, works at Central States Manufacturing and has been playing since 1988. Check out the highlights from John's "give one, get one" session, where he tapped into the wisdom of the crowd to compile best practices on engaging your employees to their highest potential, as well as, the audio from the session below.

  At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview he highlights Process Triage, a business process improvement system founded by Joseph (Rosey) Rosenberger.  "Triage is a way to deal with a high volume of problems with the objective to assess the type of solution quickly so scarce resources focus on the most valuable good first." Check out this interview with Rosey below to see how his company has applied this methodology in businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune® 500 companies.

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview, he highlights Amy's Ice Creams. Check out his interview with the Founder and President, Amy Simmons, to find out how this Texas company helps develop and educate employees for their future careers and personal lives.

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview he highlights Kiolbassa Smoked Meats, a Texas company that has passed down traditional techniques three generations to current President, Michael Kiolbassa. Check out his interview below!

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview, he highlights HingePoint, which provides consulting and implementation of software systems for businesses. Check out his interview with the founder and CEO of HingePoint, Bryce Finnerty, to find out how this company helps businesses grow. 

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview, he highlights Peterson Trucks, a company that went from losing millions of dollars to three-time Great Game All-Star Champions. Check out his interview with Executive Vice President, Tom Bagwell.

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. In this interview, he highlights Venturity Financial Partners which was selected as this year's Rookie of the Year.  This award recognizes a company that's been practicing The Great Game of Business for less than two years and has achieved remarkable results. Check out his interview with Deanna Walker and Chris McKee from Venturity below! Sneak Peek: What's Included in this Podcast The "Why" at Venturity Financial Partners and how they make accounting sexy. How all business issues have an accounting implication. Challenges their leadership team faced in revealing financials with the rest of the business, and the fears they had to overcome to start The Game. How company culture has transformed as a result of GGOB and opening the books.  How implementation has changed Venturity's hiring process.  How the leadership team now spends their time after implementing the Game.  Changes Chris and Deanna have seen among team members' interactions and relationships with clients. Venturity becoming a living laboratory- opening Huddles to clients and service providers. Plans to further the Great Game in their company and across Texas. Listen to the full podcast to find out how this All-Star company will continue to take their Game to the next level.

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. Check out his interview with our 2018 Keynote Speaker, Ann Rhoades.    A Sneak Peak: What's Included in the Podcast Ann Rhoades' background with companies including Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, DoubleTree Hotel, and PF Chang's. Ann's experiences that led to her book, Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture that Outperforms the Competition. Ann's role in the People Department at Southwest Airlines, and how the Great Game was implemented at the company with the help of Jack Stack. The powerful impact of Great Game practices at Southwest and how they saved 15% in healthcare costs.  Her role as a founding executive at People Ink,  formed in 1999 to create  organizational cultures based on values and performance. Bridging the gap for women in leadership. The Great Game of Business and Millennials- a generation speaking up about what employees have wanted all along.

At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. Check out his interview with Thomas Hill below!     Thomas Hill III has been involved with the family business his entire life. Kimray is a family owned and operated manufacturing company in Oklahoma City.  In his interview, Hill explains the ups and downs of taking over the family business established by his grandfather in 1948. His story, found in his book Recovering Leadership, reveals his path of running the company with a "wrong belief system", his termination and re-establishment as CEO at Kimray, and what he learned to come back as a better leader. 

  At the 26th Annual Gathering of Games, we had the opportunity to host Gregg Stebben from ForbesBooks Radio as he interviewed participants from this year's conference. Check out his interview with David Stern below!     Dr. Stern is CEO of Practice Velocity, an Illinois company providing software solutions for more than 1,200 urgent care clinics in all 50 states. This software includes computer tablet-based diagnostic record systems, specialized billing systems, practice management software and a patented record template system. Stern was not always in the software business. His career began in the medical field as a physician, where he discovered the need for this specialized software in the medical field and urgent care facilities.