The Great Game of Business, Expanded and Updated: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company

by Jack Stack, Bo Burlingham

The Great Game of Business started a business revolution by introducing the world to open-book management, a new way of running a business that created unprecedented profit and employee engagement.
 
The revised and updated edition of The Great Game of Business lays out an entirely different way of running a company. It wasn’t dreamed up in an executive think tank or an Ivy League business school or around the conference table by big-time consultants. It was forged on the factory floors of the heartland by ordinary folks hoping to figure out how to save their jobs when their parent company, International Harvester, went down the tubes.
 
What these workers created was a revolutionary approach to management that has proven itself in every industry around the world for the past thirty years—an approach that is perhaps the last, best hope for reviving the American Dream.

Genres: Business, Management, Leadership, Nonfiction, Buisness, Entrepreneurship, Audiobook

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this during a time when the company I was working for was considering making the switch to open book management. Our business was interested in getting the benefits of open book, employee owned operations, without offering employee ownership. Following reading this book I attended one of the Great Game seminars.

The concept is great: make everyone with a stake in the business an owner. Put the accounting books in the open for all to see, so everyone has accountability and responsibility. The reason I rate this book so low is not because the message is bad. I rate it poorly because for some reason I just can't make myself like Mr. Stack. A good deal of the book is Stack congratulating himself on his own success. Self-aggrandizing is a major turn-off for me, which is why I didn't really care for this book. Still, the message of open book management and employee ownership is sound, and definitely worth employing.

[Jay Batson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally worth the read if you're a CEO or senior executive of a company.

Basic points are:
* Develop a strong financial model of how your business operates, identifying / creating the financial metrics that are important for your business
* Find the elements under your control that need most attention, and work on that
* Make your financials, and those elements visible to your entire company. Teach everyone top-to-bottom what the knobs are in your business, and how each person's individual work affects the knobs or the results
* Get your staff to own those numbers / variables
* Do this via collaborating with the team to create challenges & games to tackle the metrics that need attention. Achieving the goals thus mean you won that game. All will be fun.
* Share both good, and bad news. CEO credibility comes from honesty, not sugar-coating.

I'm roughly in agreement with most of the things in this book from a style perspective. I was fairly open with financial position with staff when I was a CEO, though didn't go the full boat of transparency & enrollment the way the author (Stack) suggests. On reflection, I would probably lean more towards his full transparency than I have in the past if I were in that position again.

However, a fair bit of Stack's view works well for a mature industry, where you're taking share from other competitors because of a combination of low cost, high deliverability / quality, and sales effectiveness.

Many businesses operate in a different environment, though, and some of his advice doesn't translate to those environments. I've spent most of my time in early-stage, high-growth companies. There are multiple phases in that type of environment:
* Find product-market fit. Success comes less from concentrating on managing the financials, and more from making sure you can sell lots of your product to your intended customer. During this time, unpredictable spending is important to do in some areas, and avoid in others; revenue is highly unpredictable, but finding the knobs that you can turn to make growth go fast is THE most important thing.
* Early growth. Once you know you can spend $0.50 this week to acquire a customer that brings in $0.10 of revenue per month - totaling nearly $5.00 over the next 4 years - you spend like crazy to acquire as many of those customers as possible, as fast as you can. This creates a HUGE cash trough that hits you right in the face, because you need to pay the cost to acquire the revenue up-front, and it takes at least 6 months to collect that cost back. If you can grow your customer base 100% / year, but it might cost you $30M in cash that you don't have to do it in that year, and looks like you're losing money, you don't hesitate - you go get the cash & spend it because the long-term value of that spending is so high.
* Maturation. There will come a point when you've acquired such a huge number of customers that you can't sustain that 100% growth rate any longer. At this point, you start dialing towards profitability, and start to institute the controls that Stack refers to in this book.

Another example of differences in industry: He talks about an Employee Stock Ownership Program as a motivation for employees. In general, the tech industry has heavily used stock as a compensation tool. However, the method varies, and so the motivations vary. In ESOPs, the compensation to employees is more visible because the stock is more liquid (either via public markets, or internal company-operated markets). This means the stock compensation has a more "current" compensation value. In tech, the stock is entirely illiquid unless / until the company has a liquidity event (IPO, acquisition); in this case, the stock is more of a bet on a windfall than a measure of current compensation. Thus, the dynamics on use of it as an employee motivator are different.

So, the book isn't a formula for all companies; but, it's quite useful in many. And if nothing else, CEOs in mature markets who do NOT have a handle on their financials & the knobs they have available in their business would do well to use this as a method to run their company better.

[Vikrama Dhiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

GGOB is well worth the hype

The book starts off with a bang, meanders a bit in the middle before a leadership fable Appendix 1 comes to give it a high. I am a liberal rater of books and I think this deserves a 5. It gave me great tools and screenshots. I highly recommend this to anyone in midst of a change or a leadership challenge.

[TarasProkopyuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Большая игра в бизнес" одна из лучших бизнес книг, которые доводилось мне прочесть.

Те стандарты профессионального менеджмента, которыми делится автор из своего опыта управления компанией, настолько высокие и качественные, что дают полную уверенность в том, что они будут работать почти в любом виде бизнеса, и могут существенно повысить все ключевые его показатели.

А ещё кроме самих стандартов автор раскрыл и множество важнейших принципов, которых необходимо придерживаться руководителям, дабы не заложить в "фундамент" бизнеса "материалов" низкого качества. Поскольку последние попросту рано или поздно выполнят свою функцию, и в лучшем случае дадут не одну "трещину".

Книга можно поставить в один ряд к таким книгам как "От хорошего к великому" и "Построенные навечно" Коллинза, "Сделано в Америке" Уолтона, "Как плавать среди акул и не быть съеденным заживо" Маккея, "Сломай систему" Таусенда и им подобным высококачественным бестселлерам.

P.S. Джек Стэк в общем раскрыл самые актуальные и важные теми для руководителей, собственников, да и даже рядовых сотрудников компаний. И поэтому, я уверен, что не прочитать эту книгу было бы очень большой ошибкой.

[John Stepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good management (almost business philosophy) book that provides practical steps towards respect and empowerment of workers. The focus on bonus incentives seems insufficient as motivation for certain kinds of work and workplaces, but the focus on transparency, empowerment, and purpose is useful and refreshing.

[Franciszek Georgiew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fajna książka, ale nie przypadł mi do gustu język i brak konkretnych wskazówek dotyczących implementacji. Co więcej, bardzo dużo niemal identycznych anegdot, czekałem w pewnym momencie z umęczeniem na koniec ;)

[Jessica Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I picked up this book, I came up with new ideas about how to improve my business. I kept a running Google doc of notes, ideas & quotes that got up to 11 pages by the time I finished. And I've brought up the principles to my business partners many many times of the past few months. Now to work on implementing the tactics...

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this book is dated a little bit, so it felt like I heard a lot of the concepts that Mr. Stack presented before. I agree with a lot of what he has to say. Although I don't know if I myself will ever be quite as committed to some of the "game" aspects that he seems so zealous about (such as making numbers a competition and providing parties/awards for winners at every single possible opportunity), I did agree with his opinions on open-book management and how giving employees education in business makes them work harder to achieve end goals. The best part of this book I have to say would be the last chapter about capitalism, health care and "social overhead". Now that is something that I agree with and feel passionate about to a T! I truly share his fears and hopes in that regard. I think that in a sense America has lost it's "hunger for ownership" and hence there has been a decline in the fight to regain capitalism and create jobs. But of course it will just come to stab us from behind if we let it continue this way with the working class having to take care of the unemployed and destitute in what Mr. Stack calls "social overhead" if we can't get our acts together. I thought it was very fitting that I should read this right after the presidential debate. I guess you can tell who I will be voting for!!

[Keri Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1999, I worked for a small business who wanted to emulate Stack’s ideas on open books. Their attempts left a bad taste in my mouth related to the idea and the book. BUT, after reading the book, I see the company cherry picked from the book. They showed the books but with zero context and no equity. They didn’t educate the employees on the vocabulary of business. They left out the most important parts. I thought this was a very useful description of concrete ideas to build shared efforts, and hopefully, earnings by letting everyone participate in the game. He’s right. Business is a game with rules, and he let’s his team in on it. Some other reviews mentioned Stack was self-aggrandizing, I didn’t read/feel/sense that. I appreciated his stories. There are some great concrete ideas in here. I love it for that.

[Old Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides an interesting spin to look at business. Make it a game, make it fun but keep score to win. It is really not that different that most business consulting books in that the focus is on the score i.e. financials and you have to have a good team to play i.e. good leadership. If your a business owner and want your employees to read this and or hire the great game to come in as consultants be ready to answer if you are willing to give up equity to play.

[Hugo Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I havent read these ideas in many other business books. Jack advocates opening up the books to all employees, teaching everyone how to win and make money in a company and make everything a game.

[Jon Nordmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about how ownership structure, and a patient teacher, can create wholesale positive change for an organization.

[Abe Nemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing tool for business

[Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read for anyone who's looking at a business, inside or outside.

[Tamara Deprez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. It offered some great learnings that we can apply to business, but some parts are quite repetitive. Could probably cut about one hundred pages without losing the essence.

[David Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nationally, there continues to be talk about setting the minimum wage at $15 an hour. But whether the government imposes this wage minimum or not there is a way for employees to improve their wages, even beyond $15 an hour.

The answer is Open Book Management and a technique known as the Great Game of Business.

When it comes to Open Book Management, most companies do not reap the full benefits of opening the books because they are simply providing a history lesson to their employees. They share the prior month’s numbers, but that leaves little time to improve the company’s financial performance.

The Great Game of Business is a forward-forecasting approach to Open Book Management. Employees are first taught how to read financial statements so they can fully, actively and proactively participate.

Employee weekly huddles forecast where each line of the profit and loss statement will be at the end the month, giving everyone in the company the chance to improve the numbers.

The game also calls for complete financial transparency. Every employee has a direct stake in the outcome of the game through a bonus plan tied to the financial performance of the company.

If you want to earn more, then you need to help your company make more!

When a company plays the Great Game, employees start to think, feel and act like business owners, and that permeates through every decision made.

The reality of the “numbers” is that every employee helps create them. Whether your company is playing the game or not, those employees still impact what shows up on the financials.

Too often we expect employees to punch in and do their share to help the “team” create a winning company, but we don’t provide those employees with a direct financials. This is akin to having employees roll a bowling ball through a curtain using only directions from a manager on how many pins were knocked down on the other side and where to roll the next ball.

In companies playing the Great Game of Business, every employee is given a direct line-of-sight to how his or her attitude, actions, and behavior impact the company’s financials both negatively and positively.

[Ha Thu Hoang · Rating 4 out of 5]

- The only way to be secure is to make money and generate cash. Everything else is a means to that end.
- 2 conditions that have to exist before people are ready to learn about business:
1. Management has to have credibility
2. Employees have to have some fire in their eyes.
- Some lessons about the kind of games and goals that work best:
1. Business is a team sport - choose games that build a team
- At the same time as you're fostering team spirit, you can also be using the games to build credibility.
2. Be positive, build confidence
3. Celebrate every win
4. It's got to be a game
5. Give everyone the same set of goals
6. Don't use the goals to tell people everything you want them to do
- The big picture: is all about motivation. It's giving people the reason for doing the job, the purpose of 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.
- Open-book management: The more people know about a company, the better that company will perform. This is an iron-clad rule.
=> Always be more successful in business by sharing information with the people you work with than by keeping them in the dark.
- Skip the praise - give us the raise: There is no more powerful tool a manager can have than a good bonus program - which is why some companies will pay a consultant tens of thousands of dollars to design one.
=> Bonus program: communicate goals in the most effective way possible - by putting a bounty on them.
- The heart of the Great Game of Business is the annual game plan. Our annual game plan has 8 documents:
1. Income Statement
2. Balance Sheet
3. Cash-Flow Analysis
4. Sales and marketing plan
5. Capital plan
6. Inventory plan
7. Organization charts
8. Compensation plan
- Share equity does not force you to give up control of business. There is a great benefit in having an educated workforce that understands all aspects of the business: you have a lot of people you can turn to for help in making the tough decisions.

[Omar Halabieh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through this book Jack outlines his open-book management framework - which he calls "The Game" - while at SRC. As he states: "What lies at the heart of the Game is a very simple proposition: The best, most efficient, most profitable way to operate a business is to give everybody in the company a voice in saying how the company is run and a stake in the financial outcome, good or bad." The ensuing chapters discuss the various aspects of this framework, covering a breadth of topics such as vision, goals, compensation etc. Below is an outline of these topics:

"1- Why teach people how to make money: On profit in general, On your company's profits, On making money and generating cash, On jobs and job security, On wealth and wealth creation.

2- Myths of management: On the danger of telling the truth, On the danger of being a "nice guy", On the role of the manager, On motivation.

3- The feeling of a winner: On the credibility of management, On the attitude of employees, On pride and ownership, On starting games, On celebrating wins.

4- The big picture: On defining the big picture, On Sharing the big picture, On moving people around the company, On sending mixed messages, On Connecting with communities outside the company.

5- Open-book management: On taking the emotions out of the business, On being the least-cost producer, On the fear of competitors, On the fear of employees, On sharing compensation figures.

6- Setting Standards: On critical numbers, On the purpose of standard costs, On setting up a standard cost system, On absorbing overhead.

7- Skip the praise - give us the raise: On designing the bonus program, On the effectiveness of the bonus program, On the size of the potential bonuses, On the issue of equal payouts, On educating with bonuses.

8- Coming up with the game plan: On budgets and game plans, On the sales forecast, On getting people to buy in, On changing the plan as the year goes along.

9- The great huddle: On staff meetings, On putting names on the numbers, On the timing of meetings, On the role of the Leader, On writing the numbers down.

10- A company of owners: On equity in general, On long-term thinking, On playing the game in employee-owned companies, On playing the game without the equity tool, On participation versus democracy in business.

11- The highest level of thinking: On the cost of health care and other benefits, On creating new opportunities for people, On cash-flow generators and overhead absorbers, On the hunger for ownership.

12- The ultimate higher law: a message to middle managers: On getting your boss to play the game, On playing the game without the boss, On having fun."

A great educative book on management, that promotes openness, transparency and effectiveness!

Below are excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:

1- "The only way to be secure is to make money and generate cash. Everything else is a means to that end. Those simple rules apply to every business. And yet, at most companies, people are never told that the survival of the company depends on doing those two things...most important, no one tells people how to make money and generate cash.

2- "People only get beyond work when their motivation is coming from the inside...Management is all about instilling that desire to win. It's about instilling self-esteem and pride, that special glow you get when you know you're a winner. Nobody has to tell you. You just feel it. You know it."

3- "Along the way, we learned some lessons about the kind of games and goals that work best: 1) Business is a team sport - choose games that build a team. 2) Be positive, build confidence. 3) Celebrate every win. 4) It's got to be a game. 5) Give everyone the same set of goals. 6) Don't use goals to tell people everything you want them to do."

4- "I found out that people who had worked in two or more jobs had a whole different attitude about business. Cooperation was great. They were much better at seeing the other guy's perspective. They understood how different functions fit together, how the depended on each other."

5- "The best argument for open-book management is this: the more educated your work force is about the company, the more capable it is of doing the little things required to get better."

6- "When you use financial statements as management tools, you have to adapt to your purposes...How you do that depends entirely on your business, but here are some general rules to follow: 1) Start with the income statement. 2) Highlight the categories where you spend most money. 3) Break down categories into controllable elements. 4) Use the income statement to educate people about the balance sheet."

7- "The real power of the bonus program lies in its ability to educate people about business. Once they understand the math, they see how everything fits together, and how business can be a tool for getting them what they want. And it all does fit together. The system really works. You can't criticize it because it is simply a reflection of reality. You can criticize individuals. You can take people to task for the way they do business. You can go after the ones who are greedy, who only want to help themselves, who exploit other people for personal gain. But the fault lies in those individuals, not in the nature of capitalism."

8- "That's because a company of owners will outperform a company of employees any day of the week..When you think like an owner, you do all the little things necessary to win...But people will only thing like owners if they have a larger purpose, if they are not just working for a paycheck...People have to see the Big Picture. They have to know what they are doing, why it's important, where they are going, and how business is helping them get there. Only then will they have the desire to go out and use the tools you provide and play the Great Game of Business to win."

9- "..."Everyone who comes fishin' here gits the same number of bites. The only difference between thems that catch the fish and thems that don't is preparation and concentration. You gotta make sure your hook is sharp and your line don't have no nicks. Then you gotta watch that line. You pay attention to them little things, and you'll catch all the fish you kin handle." I think of that story whenever I run into people who don't know what to do with their lives because there just aren't enough opportunities around. I also think of it when I hear about companies laying people off because their services aren't needed, because there isn't enough work for them, because the opportunities have all dried up. What a waste. There are opportunities everywhere - opportunities to grow, opportunities to start new businesses, opportunities to create jobs and absorb overhead. Everybody gets the same number of bites. You catch the fish when you're prepared and ready to respond."

[Angela Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This revised edition is rather similar to the original book 20 years ago, except (i) for a more comprehensive intro that shows the results till 2012/13 and (ii) it ends with an additional guide that gels the points together into a story and 3-part model.

Basically, the book is about Open-Book Management, i.e. opening your books, educating people on financials and running the company in a way that allows everyone to make financial decisions and contribute to the bottomline. The whole approach is built on this philosophy: To get the highest level of performance, you must first appeal to people’s highest level of thinking.

Playing the Game involves:
• Teaching People about the Language of Business (Money)
• Adopting the Right Management Philosophies
• Getting People into Game-Playing Mode
• Showing People the Big Picture
• Setting Standards to Drive Action
• Spicing things up with Bonuses
• Developing your Game Plan
• Establishing your Rhythm and Cycles
• Creating a Company of Owners (ownership-mindset + stock/shares)

Having managed teams in MNCs (employee-mindset) vs now running my own business and working a lot with freelancers and agencies (self-employed / business mindset), I do see a big difference in thinking/approach. I'd definitely love to have a company full of capable, business-minded people who can run the business with me. And Stack is right....if people can deliver the value, the bosses will have no issue sharing the rewards with them.

Book summary at : https://readingraphics.com/book-summa...

[Xavier Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear. Have been thinking a lot about the similarities/differences between manufacturing companies (subject of this book) and R&D focused companies, where outcomes are far more variables and activities more abstractly removed from the financials (and often more risk, say in VC funded business).

e.g. "Most important, no one tells people how to make money and generate cash. Nine times out of ten, employees don’t even know the difference between the two." This isn't really a critical distinction for many of the types of companies I've worked in. Is it so useful in R&D for that to be the focusing educational point?

"The best, most efficient, most profitable way to operate a business is to give everybody in the company a voice in saying how the company is run and a stake in the financial outcome, good or bad."

"There is no point in giving people stock if they can’t see the numbers that determine its value."

"The more people know about a company, the better that company will perform. This is an iron-clad rule. You will always be more successful in business by sharing information with the people you work with than by keeping them in the dark."

"Sponsorship of outside competitions may be the best bargain in business today."

"Too many CEOs only want to share the good news. It’s a combination of the good and the bad that builds credibility. If you continually make the situation look good, it’s a fairy tale. Life’s not like that. And people know it."

"When “they” have bad news, we get angry. When Irene has bad news, we ask if she needs help."

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was yet another book on my Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't-related reading list and I now see why they made so many references to this book across that and Scaling Up Compensation: 5 Design Principles for Turning Your Largest Expense into a Strategic Advantage. While Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't inspired a lot of the core concepts, this book defined a lot of the playbook in terms of scorecards, Critical Numbers and more open book management.

This edition also includes an implementation guide that reads more like a story or at the very least a very narrative case study. But I see how it can be pretty helpful for someone wanting to get started on the GGOB, as it is abbreviated. Still, pretty solid ideas but definitely easier to read about than get stated on.

[Gale Moreland · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is your favorite quote from the book?
I don't have a favorite quote, but the anniversary copy had additional Case Study type chapters at the end and that addition really helped the pieces click into place. My favorite story had to be the workers dressing up like nuns and picking up steel in a school bus. The most eye-opening was the guy who drilled the perfect holes for years but was this crazy successful real estate guy on the side and no one even knew he had hidden talents.

Which coworker would you recommend this book to?
Well, it's just me and Torre right now, so Torre

What is a specific real world application that you will be able to make from what you learned in this book?
I do like the buy-in you get when you set up mini-games that the team has chosen with goals and rewards chosen by the team. They understand the impact that will make on the yearly goals and how they can contribute in a real way. Of course, for this to work your teams do need a working understanding of P&L sheets, company overhead costs, and goals.

What is the one thing that you think you will do differently or think differently about since you read the book?
It's so important to educate your team. Transparency and education are what allow this type of profit-sharing to work. They need understanding and then they need buy-in, otherwise, they are just clocking time and that's not good for anyone. I never thought is was important for the entire company to understand that piece of business. Probably because so many businesses keep a tight lid on it.

What is one point you disagreed with, or at least questioned, in this book?
I'm not so sure the game in its entirety will work for us. I do like mini-games. It might still be a lack of truly understanding how it all ties in.

How does something you learned from this book tie into one of the core values of the company?
Relentless forward motion. This setup pushes ppl to improve themselves, expand their skill set, and be more than the scope of their job description. You get to see who ppl really are and what they can become.

Built by Radolo

[Adam Tuttle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is awesome.

The author should have paid a professional to narrate the audiobook, rather than doing it himself. There are a lot of pauses where you can tell a line ended in the book from which he was reading............ before the sentence ended, and it can be distracting. His pronunciation is also less than perfect.

But as I said, the book is awesome. I read it because my company is headed down this road, and I'm very excited to start that journey. It seems like a very engaged, energetic, and exciting way to run a business.

I do have a few gripes. In particular, he went out of his way to make it a point that people need to know the difference between "making money and generating cash" but never actually explains it. There are also a few other areas that he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for you to find your own path (i.e. how to share equity with employees without going public) that I found annoying mostly because he didn't offer the slightest glimpse at what his company did. Just a "you need to do this, we did it, it's really important, and here is where you can find out more information on how to do it yourself."

So all in all, 4 out of 5 stars.

[Sean Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly accessible writing, the open books business approach behind it is decent enough and one my company is trying. You could picture finding this book at Barnes and Noble business section in 1995- that typical mixture of “it’s just common sense!” and “follow this magic process!” Truisms that a more thoughtful writer might have at least acknowledged with a wink and a nudge. I actually found the roughly sketched case study of Stack’s company pretty interesting. I wish there had been a bit more approach towards history and the stories of success and failure. As it is it’s not quite been long enough for American industry of the late 20th century to seem quaint or charming. My version has been updated just slightly with Web site links. One has to guess what Stack might think of today’s corporate culture. A future historian immersed in pop culture business lit (will there be such a thing?) will be amused by the detour at the end that only American businessman have the mindset to solve America’s problems.

[J. Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a long read for me, as I'm not as financially literate as I should be. I got a bit bogged down in the middle chapters about setting targets and crafting a bonus plan. Of course, ignorance like mine is a key failing in modern businesses, as this book makes clear.
Business success or failure is predicated on financial performance (for most of us - let's ignore the distorted operating models of VC-backed big tech for now) and we need to remedy that appalling and widespread financial ignorance if we want sustainable businesses that support resilient communities.
For businesses with enough maturity to know what they're selling to whom, the operating system laid out in the GGOB is a winner. Education, engagement, and performance aren't aspirations here - they're practices built into how work gets done every day. I've recommended this to many leaders already and will continue to do so going forward.

[Terry Koressel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second reading of The Great Game of Business....my first reading was in the mid-90's. I enjoyed and learned from my second reading as much as I did the first. Jack Stack is absolutely correct about his most important message: Business mastery is not complicated; it does not require an MBA or even a college degree. But it does require an obsession with winning; an obsession with success; and an obsession with maximizing the contributions of everyone in the organization. The "game"....Jack Stack's approach to business management/leadership is one way of achieving this. The game's underlying principles are the key and they are mentioned above. This is a practical, intelligent, down-to-earth, "blue collar" primer to creating a successful, thriving business. If you are a manager or business leader, The Great Game of Business is a terrific learning tool....and an enjoyable read to make your time investment even better. Two thumbs up is my recommendation!

[u571 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about management

This is a great book about management, much better than most of the management books I read. There are a few reasons I liked this book

1. This book was written from the author’s real experiences in SRC by bringing a small and almost bankrupted business into a healthy and growing company.

2. Jack Stack really poured heart into it rather than copy & paste. He has many great examples, cases, tools for readers to learn.

3. I like the philosophy of the book - open book management, which has been successfully used by many companies like Netflix. Some other great business leaders like Jack Welch, Howard Schulz - they all focused on the essence of open book management (candor and transparency)

4. Last but not least, the book offered implementation guide. The GGOB is not a rocket science but rather something that every manager can learn and use.

I would recommend the book to other readers and the book is definitely worthy of your time!

[Leonardo Etcheto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 100% in agreement with him that a good way to succeed is to allow everyone in the company to use their full talent and energy. What he explains here is how to give that rocket a guidance system. Open book access to financial data along with training and a bunch of supporting programs tell everyone where to focus their efforts in keeping costs down.
Not every single initiative and program that he discusses will we implement, but it is very clear that there is no single silver bullet. You have to build a system and continually engage with it. Very good. Now for me the hard part – do it.

[Rob Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've heard about Jack Stack and the great game of business for several years, so I finally decided to read it as a way to improve the way I manage during my day job. While it was a slow read compared with much of the fiction I'd been reading lately, I found it to be very informative and something I needed to have in my work bookshelf. I'm going to keep turning back to it over the upcoming months and years, thinking about how to apply the principles outlined in the book in an environment where not everything be discusses is possible. Overall, a great read in leadership and management for anyone running an organization of their own.

[Ann Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband was asked to read this book for work( from corporate) who uses this as a guide for running the company. Wayne Automatic Fire Sprinklers. Not my usual read but as a “favor” to my busy, non - reader hubby I read to him during his commutes. First chapters use humor to engage readers into otherwise dry subject matter. Lots of case studies as well as “workbook” to implement suggestions. Good ideas to motivate and incentives for lowering costs and increasing production and profit in all departments.