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The Great Game of Business! - Page 2

© Stuart Bourhill

The principal idea behind open-book management is to not use information to intimidate, control, or manipulate people but rather to use it to teach people how to work together to achieve common goals and thereby gain control of their lives. When you share the numbers and bring them alive, you turn them into tools people can use to help themselves as they go about their business every day. It is the practice of communicating with people via the numbers. It takes down the walls and everybody works together to solve problems instead of finger pointing.

According to Stack, "most of the problems we have in business are a direct result of our failure to show people how they fit into the Big Picture. It is all about motivation. It's giving people the reason for doing the job, the purpose for working. If you're going to play a game, you have to understand what it means to win. When you show people the Big Picture, you define winning."

Some of the keys to a successful bonus program are as follows: (1) Stick to two or three goals and get them from the financials; (2) Give people the chance to win early and often; (3) Communicate, communicate, communicate; (4) Don't pay the bonus unless it is earned (do everything to help). The Great Game of Business is based upon these agreed to plans and goals. People are making specific commitments to one another for the next twelve months. Without them, there is no Game, just a different form of manipulation. Commitments and consensus are vital.

Next time we'll take a look at " The Learning Organization" paradigm, as defined by Peter Senge in his book, "The Fifth Discipline".

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