Seth Godin recently wrote a post entitled ‘Studying entrepreneurship without doing it is like studying music without listening to it.’ In it, Godin points out that until you’re actually in the thick of things, you really have no idea of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. Recently I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Great Game Practitioner, Hilcorp Energy. One of the things I really like about Hilcorp is that they walk the walk. They don’t just talk about making something happen, they make it happen.

"The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool." - Stephen King We all have people we trust. And they trust us in return. In some cases, that trust has been earned via confidences kept and commitments achieved. In others, it's possible that the mutual trust is there because ... well, just because. Among my friends are two entrepreneurs who have been harmed by being too trusting, and perhaps too eager to offer others the opportunity to benefit from their businesses.

At The Great Game of Business, Inc. people often ask us if it is possible for Open-Book Management to work in a government organization. While it might seem difficult to share financial or operational information in a government organization, it is possible and very practical. Recently, Greene County (located in Missouri, where SRC Holdings & The Great Game of Business, Inc reside), made the bold move to begin educating employees on the County financials to overcome some significant barriers.

Way back in 1970, Milton Friedman wrote that any business’s responsibility to society was simply to increase its profits and not break the rules. He’s absolutely right. That’s all business should do. What happens with those profits, when that money is put into the hands of those who have earned it, is where the notion of multiple bottom lines truly comes in. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks the way Mr. Friedman and I do.

Who wouldn’t want to make the journey to fantastic Springfield, Missouri? After all, it’s the birthplace of Cashew Chicken, Brad Pitt and Open-Book Management (hopefully you’re most concerned with the latter). So, if you’ve been putting off the trip, there has to be a good reason why. But, because we know there is no good reason to avoid doing something that could transform your company, we’ve tackled the top five below:

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.

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.

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.

We business owners could learn a few things from 3 year old kids. They ask “why.” A lot. “Why do I have to go to bed?” “Why is grandma’s hair that color?” In his book Start with Why, author Simon Sinek makes the case that most businesses can explain what they do and how they do it, but few can clearly articulate why.

It's the Spread “Thirty six thousand dollars!” “You’re proposing to pay him thirty six thousand dollars a year? We can’t afford that.” “It will be tight, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it will take to get him. I really like this candidate.” Discussions such as this happen all the time in small businesses. The company is in a hiring mode, the recruiting and interviewing has happened, and now it’s time to narrow it down to a specific candidate and make an offer.