Little Changes, Big Outcome

While game is in the name, it’s anything but for the people who play. Pioneered by SRC Holdings Corp. CEO Jack Stack, 22-year-old “The Great Game of Business” open-book management philosophy has been adopted by more than 6,000 companies worldwide – from Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) and Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) to locals such as Paul Mueller Co. (OTC: MUEL) and Springfield Business Journal.

Now, some nontraditional businesses are looking to the game for financial advice.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks is the area’s first nonprofit to take part, Missouri Southern State University is starting up, and entities such as Greene County are playing what they term, “The Great Game of Government.”

“People are starting to see this is not just a manufacturing thing,” said Patrick Carpenter, vice president of Great Game of Business Inc., the full-fledged company born from Stack’s 1993 book by the same name. “We’ve said before this is one of the best kept secrets, but lately it’s really starting to ramp up.

“I think coming out of the post-2008 fog, people are more aware of their numbers, their financials, and one person, like the CFO, isn’t doing it all. There is an operational awareness there.”

Fundamentally, the process turns open-book management into a game of sorts in which all employees – from the CEO to the janitor – review company financials and take ownership of a number they report during a weekly “huddle” of all staff members. Carpenter said by understanding how each number on a profit and loss statement is created, employees have more control over achieving those numbers and their personal effect on the bottom line.

The nonprofit game
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks CEO Katie Davis said the organization has applied some Great Game principles for about three years, but starting in 2015 she decided to go all in.

It started when Tim Stack, son of Jack and general manager of SRC Electrical, was president of the BBBS board. Davis had just signed on as CEO and said it made sense to implement something Tim Stack was so familiar with.

“We started with a few pieces, like a monthly meeting showing everyone the P&L, but we weren’t really playing the game,” she said. “It was still all on my shoulders. People still looked to me for answers.”

Kicking off in January, Davis said staff went through training and completed its first month of reporting and routine huddles in February. She said the change already is evident.

“Everyone owns a number now, and that’s so important,” she said. “Before, we were continuing to look back and I gave them all the answers. Now, we are projecting, and they are giving me the answers.”

Huddles are held Tuesdays and the 14-member staff each reports a number that’s tallied on a wall-size company scoreboard. BBBS Development Officer Tyler Moles, an SRC Logistics transplant, said the organization has adapted the game to fit its mission.

“We aren’t all about the profit like a traditional business, the end goal is to be the best stewards of the money as possible. Now, that is written on our walls,” said Moles, referencing BBBS’s scoreboard wall. “About 50 percent of our reporting isn’t money related. It involves our program – that’s our bottom line – how many people are we helping.”

Moles said reported figures include the number of matches made that month, duration of matches and number of volunteers recruited.

“We are looking for quality matches, matches that last longer than 12 months,” he said. “A two-month match could do more harm than good.”

While Moles said quality matches are the group’s key metric, BBBS also has its sights set on a financial goal: $1 million in revenue.

“We’ve always been less than a $1 million agency, but through the Great Game we can grow fundraising events and cut costs. That is within reach,” he said. “One of the first things we did was cut toilet paper costs. The receptionist noticed if we bought good toilet paper instead of great toilet paper, we could save half the cost.

“It sounds funny, but little things like that add up and help us reach that goal. Those are things we didn’t see before.”

A different game
Carpenter said since nonprofits don’t produce any “widgets,” they look a lot more like a service model business on paper. Great Game representatives already work with other service businesses, such as Georgia-based Meadows Regional Health Center.

“Even if you don’t have a bottom-line profit to contend with, something drives your organization,” he said. “An increase in donors could be a metric. You want to set those benchmarks and see how you compare nationwide.

“A lot of nonprofits build annual plans off retrospective info, but you need to look 80 percent forward, not back. When your people trust the plan, you can do a lot more than when it’s just follow the leader.”

Rhonda Alexander, coach, trainer and event manager for the Great Game, has worked with Greene County officials the past two years to set up its game.

“The biggest difference is their revenue is out of their hands. They can’t just go out and sell more to increase the bottom line,” she said.

The first goal is education of the more than 700 employees, then they want to roll it out to the community.”

Started under Tim Smith, then county administrator who now serves as deputy city manager for Springfield, Alexander said the program took a hit with his departure.

“As we continue to lose really important people to the city and City Utilities, it hasn’t been the smoothest transition,” she said. “But I’m really proud of them, they never let that defeat their spirit. Sometimes, that is half the battle.”

However, Alexander said the plan is taking shape as county departments continue to learn about each other rather than operating in silos. For example, Alexander said when the Office of Emergency Management needed a parking lot but didn’t have the funds, another department with a surplus stepped in to fill the void.

“Before the game, they didn’t know what each other were doing,” she said. “The game made that communication possible.”

When the county set its 2015 budget on Jan. 30, officials said the game positively influenced the process. The county’s fund balance is $9.9 million, which officials attribute to conservative budgeting over the past six years and an improving economy. However, the nearly $2.6 million increase in the general revenue fund still falls short of $9.5 million in identified critical needs.

Once fully concepted, Great Game leaders plan to use the Greene County system as a model for other municipalities going forward.

Whether a manufacturing company, nonprofit or county government, in the end, Alexander said it’s always about working together.

“It’s like Jack (Stack) always says, ‘It’s easy to stop one guy going in the wrong direction, but it’s pretty hard to stop 100.’”[[In-content Ad]]