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Published by lhaley, 2019-08-27 15:49:28

2019 All-Star Flip Book

All_Case_Studies with cover

Case Study

AMBAC

Location: Elgin, SC
2018 Revenues: $9.2 million
Employees: 57
The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax;
New Sales

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Despite a 100-year-history as a business, AMBAC was Primarily manufactures and remanufactures
struggling both financially and with its culture. Not only heavy-duty diesel fuel injection systems and
was the company facing threats in the marketplace, it was related components.
struggling to find ways to get its team working together
toward a common future. “Great Game® is making a difference.
It gives us a vision, we know where we
Solution are, and I feel like I have someone in
my corner. Even in my personal life, I
Implement The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) in feel more structured. I feel growth.”
August 2018 with the help of a coach, Kevin Walter, as ~ Mike Koromah, Senior Fuel Injection
a way to build a culture of ownership and engagement Technician, AMBAC Associate 12 years
among the associates.

Results

Following a rough year in 2017, the AMBAC team turned
their performance around in 2018. Not only did they
boost sales 21%, but they also blew away their profit
goals, as PBT soared an incredible 851%—which powered
the team to earn their maximum gainshare bonus. “We
have come so far, so fast—no one would have believed it
was even possible to achieve what we have and we’re just
getting started,” says CEO Robert Isherwood. “In a real
sense The Game is turning the company around. A once
great company is becoming great again, jobs were saved,
families are learning their path to financial security,
there’s purpose, and there’s optimism. Whatever else
happens, we are celebrating, and we are grateful.”

“Even the environment is different, everyone’s
involved. People are happier, it’s better, we
have unity. Where there used to be rumors, now
it’s open. You don’t need to guess or worry, you
know. For me, there’s more security.” ~ Roxanne
Thomas, Assembly Technician, AMBAC Associate
33 Years

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The AMBAC team kicked off a successful 60-day MiniGame they called
“Cash is King,” with a goal to tackle overhead absorption. They began
by teaching the associates about what absorption was, how they could
impact it, and why it played such a critical role in their company’s goals.
The MiniGame was a huge success, as the absorption rate jumped up
more than 20%—beating their goal by 6%. The best part is that on the
months that followed, the absorption rate remained better than ever,
which signaled that it had brought about a new awareness and behavior
change for the entire team moving forward.

“By having open books, people know what is coming. Before they thought it was
being kept from them. Now, we know what we need to do to hit our goals.”
~ Donny Frick, Senior Fuel Injection Technician, AMBAC Associate 31 Years

What’s Next?

Teaching financial literacy has already had a major impact on the
associates at AMBAC, says Isherwood. “People are seeing a path to
entrepreneurial energy, financial literacy, and security for their families,”
he says. But Isherwood also sees the opportunity to double-down on that
investment—to deepen the associates’ understanding of their company
as an economic engine—to help further drive their culture of ownership
throughout the entire organization.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Anderson Precision

Location: Jamestown, NY
2018 Revenues: $20.1 million
Employees: 108
The Critical Number™: Net Operating Profit
Before Tax.

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Build alignment between employees and global market demand Anderson Precision was originally founded
in a more than 125-year-old business. Part of that challenge was in 1891 as a machine repair business. Today,
convincing the team that they needed to change how they had the company is a contract manufacturer
worked in the past. that primarily provides components to the
automotive industry and ships up to 100 million
Solution turned components per year.

Use The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) framework to help “GGOB has impacted the business by giving
align everyone—from those on the shop floor all the way up to everyone a voice and developing group
management—around a common goal while elevating everyone’s accountability which drives teamwork. We
capabilities. To help ensure a successful adoption in 2017, the still have a long way to go, but we are light
design team included five shop-floor employees, three managers, years away from how we operated two years
and the two owners, and everyone in the business began a ago. Personally, GGOB is a really good
financial literacy training program. teacher of finances and how to analyze and
effect those finances more efficiently. If you
Results haven’t taken accounting or financial classes
before, GGOB really contributes to basic
Playing Great Game™ and getting the entire team engaged financial understanding.” ~ Andy Horner,
has had a measurable impact in multiple ways on Anderson Tooling Engineer
Precision—including boosting margins from 3.8% in 2016 to
10.7% in 2018. Over the past twelve months, for instance, the
company reduced its shippable backlog (late orders) from over
$300,000 to under $70,000—which has dramatically improved
customer satisfaction. The team has also found ways to shave
more than $90,000 in costs in just the first quarter of 2019, which
helped them earn a performance incentive payout of 12% for the
first quarter. The Game has also had a significant impact on the
company’s culture, especially how its improved the level of trust
and got everyone focused on winning as a team. “We are steadily
moving from a ‘me’ culture to a ‘we’ culture,” says President Steve
Godfrey.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

In 2018, the Anderson team kicked off more than 20 MiniGames, which tackled
issues like increasing the number of inspected parts and reducing backlog. The
volume of games played was helped in part by the creation of a team whose
focus is on providing refresher training for the MiniGame process. “We want
to encourage organic development of new games that come from the bottom
up,” says Godfrey.

“Great Game has changed our culture and ways we go about things. When there is
something that goes wrong, we all band together as a team and work to get the best solution
possible for the customer, our employee’s, and Anderson Precision as a whole. It has taken
out the anxiety of going into our day with the stability of knowing what I am walking into. We
all know what we need to do to win and having that type of system backing you and the entire

company up is an amazing feeling. Not only has it made me better at decisions in the
workplace, Great Game has impacted my personal life as well. I went from being in debt,
using credit cards irresponsibly, living paycheck to paycheck, to having a savings, no debt,

and more than one credit card, all in good standing. I wish that I were taught real life
financials of not only personal, but business, it would have set me up for a better start after
high school. I am grateful for Great Game and Anderson Precision for making a great impact

on my life.” ~ Ashley Sample, Business Unit Manager

What’s Next?

A key step Godfrey says the team is working on for the next year is finding ways
to better link the stories that result from playing MiniGames and teams, or
cells, all the way up to the numbers and stories shared in the larger company-
wide huddles. “We’re trying to help everyone better understand how the work
they are doing impacts the company-wide scoreboard,” says Godfrey. While
the team also uses the HIP process to set its annual goals, Godfrey would
like to continue to expand the practice to include contingencies and ideas for
further diversification moving forward.

“One thing GGOB has done is getting the employees to think and ask questions they
never would have thought of before. Examples are an employee asking how much the
tools cost when an error occurs. They now know that it is dollar for dollar bottom line.
Although I think we are still early in the process. The teams that have formed because
of the department scoreboards are very strong.” ~ Jason Carlson, Production Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Argent Tape & Label

Location: Plymonth, Michigan
2018 Revenues: $7.4 million
Employees: 23
The Critical Number™: Sales

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Prior to playing The Great Game of Business® (GGOB), Argent Tape & Label (ATL) is a certified Women-
ATL was in serious financial trouble and was close to Owned Small Business that manufacturers
shutting its doors. Staff had been cut from 25 to just pressure-sensitive labels used by customers in
three fulltime associates. The company needed a way to the industrial, automotive, pharmaceutical, and
get everyone working together to save the business. consumer industries.

Solution “It is refreshing to be part of a
company in which members are
Share information, the good and the bad, with associates engaged in creating efficiency and
so that every individual has a clear understanding of how continuous improvements.” ~ Cathie
they impact the company and which line items represent Melvin, Account Manager
their performance and contributions.

Results

While the financial results have been through the roof—
revenue has grown 15% per year—the real impact of
the playing Great Game™ has been on the culture of
the organization. When visitors or new employees walk
through the doors of the building, their most common
response is: “You can feel the culture!” Playing The Game
has changed how the associates at ATL think and act
about their business: they are now empowered to think
and act like owners. Associates are now engaged in
understanding not only the bottom line—every associate
owns a line on the income statement (P&L)—but also
how each and every one of their actions affects fellow
co-workers and their impact on the bottom line. This
collaboration between co-workers fosters a better work
environment where all employees are engaged for not
only the good of the business, but for the benefit of each
other as well.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

ATL has found that MiniGames have been effective at addressing multiple
challenges inside the business, from continuous improvements, to tackling
open tasks, and improving various efficiencies. One example is how one
MiniGame generated more than 35 ideas from team members about how
they could increase margins by improving efficiencies and reducing costs.

“It’s amazing to be trusted with so much information. In previous jobs, the
financial information was always treated as a big secret or like it would be
beyond the normal employee’s comprehension. Understanding the business
helps us feel like we all have a stake in what is going on and empowers us to

make more informed decisions.” ~ Colin Burnard, Pre-Press Specialist

What’s Next?

While the ATL team has had success playing MiniGames, it has struggled
at times to get everyone on the team involved in playing them—which is a
goal for the coming year. The ATL team is also honing its High-involvement
Planning™ process. In the coming year, the team wants to improve its
contingency plans as part of its annual strategic plan by making it more
detailed and specific on how they would implement those contingencies
if needed. But the team is also closing in on the five-year goals they set
back in 2015: to become a $10 million business by 2020.

“I think the Great Game is an exciting way to not only share your financial
information, but also to change your company culture. When you share
financials and are open, you show that trust is given and employees will

always work harder for a common goal.” ~ Bekah Keehn, Account Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

2019 Highlights Case Study

Challenge BBBS Lonestar

When Pierce Bush took over the CEO role of the agency Location: Irving, TX
four years ago, it was losing money. But the most common 2018 Revenues: $12.1 million
question he was asked was when the staff would be getting Employees: 165
raises. “They just didn’t know the financial health of the The Critical Number™: Net Income
organization,” says Bush. He and his leadership team Program Goal: Active Matches
wanted to find a way to increase employees’ line of sight to
elements critical to the agency’s success toward achieving Company Background
the goals laid out in the strategic plan Vision 2x22. Strategic
goals of Vision 2x22 include doubling the program’s reach Big Brothers Big Sisters partners with parents/
by 2022, growing their budget to support this important guardians, volunteers, and donors to provide
work, and reducing the cost per match. children with strong and enduring, professionally
supported one-to-one relationships that changes
Solution lives for the better, forever. Their shared vision
is that all children can achieve success in life.
Implement The Great Game of Business® (GGOB), including BBBS Lonestar is comprised of 12 offices spread
monthly all-staff huddles, weekly market all-staff huddles, across four major markets—Dallas County,
and other mini-huddles, with the help of their coach, Katie Greater Houston, Tarrant County, and West
Davis, starting January 2018. Central Texas.

Results “I think the Great Game has given
Big Brothers Big Sisters an
The GGOB has supported all of the critical elements in their opportunity to come together as
strategic plan and furthers their mission across the Lone more than just an organization. It is
Star footprint—including helping the agency sustain 5,990 a chance for all employees to work
mentor-mentee “matches” in 2018 while increasing cash towards a common goal, have a
reserves year-over-year 76%. The GGOB also improved the singular mindset, and prioritize the
agency’s culture and employee morale and engagement real reason we do our jobs, which is
through weekly all-staff huddles, increased understanding to serve people.” ~ Summer Taylor,
of agency financials, and greater accountability fostered Enrollment Specialist
through the structure of GGOB. “Nothing is more powerful
than an engaged team who understands how every
decision they make affects the bottom lines—programs and
financials,” says Bush. “The GGOB has energized our staff
as genuine owners in our success and improved financial
literacy, cross-functional collaboration, and generated
significant cost savings for the agency, while growing our
programs for the first time in a number of years.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

BBBS launched several MiniGames in 2018—and they’ve started 2019 strong as well.
One example of a MiniGame focused on recruiting “40 men in 40 days” to address the
list of boys and young men waiting to be matched with a mentor and positive adult
role model. This MiniGame illustrated where potential male mentors were in the
queue and gave staff a visual representation of where male volunteers bottleneck
and how the team can move men through the inquiry and application queue. “We
also used MiniGames to drive raffle ticket sales for an Audi in our Tarrant County
and Houston markets that engaged the entire staff,” says Diana Beste, Director of
Philanthropy. “I love that Great Game™ makes us reevaluate the way we do things
and has pretty much eliminated the phrase ‘because that’s what we did last year’
and makes us rethink and try new things.”

“It is such a special and unique opportunity to be able to participate in GGOB as a non-profit
worker. The ability to understand, on a VERY granular level, what the state of the agency is on
a weekly basis is so empowering. Additionally, having a chance to come together as a team to
meet our goals and be rewarded financially is amazing. I have seen more collaboration across

teams in the past year and a half than I have seen in 15 years with the agency. This level of
accountability and honesty is truly refreshing and inspiring.”
~ Jen Butler, Director of Enrollment

What’s Next?

Bush says that the agency’s goals for the coming year are to get the team members
in different offices playing The Game at a consistently high level. Getting all the
associates to buy into financial literacy training and transparency as a way to build
an open and accountable culture will play a key role in that evolution. Another
component, says Bush, is making sure each of the four different regions has a strong
leader in place who is willing to build a culture of accountability. “Another thing I want
to lean into this year is finding ways to make our cultural values a living and breathing
embodiment of the organization,” says Bush. “Too many nonprofits are built around
a dynamic fundraiser or CEO. We want the Great Game to be our operating system
to move into the future without skipping a beat. We want to continue to use The
Game to bring the mission alive and show everyone how they can make an impact.”

“I love the Great Game because it has really helped me understand our program model,
especially understanding cash flow and what it looks like for us as a non-profit. The

transparency is incredible. Also, since I have no real background with finance and come from
a more service-oriented job, it has helped my comprehension and made my transition to a
more development-oriented role easier.” ~ Julia Kelley, Engagement Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment
Corp.

Location: Elk Grove Village, IL
2018 Revenues: $12.8 million
Employees: 15
The Critical Number™: Fixed Charge
Coverage Ratio

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

When CEO John Costello made the decision to buy Cherry’s builds and sells specialized equipment
out his business partner after an earlier buyout used in warehouses to transfer product on and
of the company’s founder, he needed to leverage off pallets. The company, which sells primarily
everything he had to make it happen. That also put to Fortune 500 companies, also manufactures
enormous pressure on the company to pay down equipment used to clean and maintain pallets.
its debt—ASAP. But Costello was concerned about
what his associates would do once they learned “Transparency and honesty, in my
the truth. “I was scared as hell,” he says, “but I knew humble opinion, make or break a
that I had to share the numbers.” company. The Great Game of
Business coupled with honest and
Solution down-to-earth leadership is the key
to ushering a company and its culture
Use Great Game™ as a system to communicate into greatness.”~ Jerry Matos,
with the associates the state of the business Marketing/Web Merchandiser
and engage them in helping turn the company’s
financial fortunes around while paying down its
debt.

Results

When Costello finally shared the truth of the
company’s debt situation with his team, the first
question he got from an associate was: “What
would happen if we pay down that debt faster?” “It
was an incredible moment for me,” says Costello.
Thanks to implementing the Great Game in
February 2018 with the help of their coach, Kevin
Walter, the Cherry’s team has enjoyed healthier
financials, increased efficiency, greater teamwork,
and improved morale. As a result, the company is
on track to retire part of its debt two years ahead
of schedule.
“The Great Game of Business has taught me
how to budget and manage my own
personal money along with what it takes to
run a successful business. I’ve also learned
the importance of being open and
communicating with one another to hit a
common goal.” ~ John Hallquist, Account
Manager/Sales

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The Cherry’s team completed four MiniGames over the past year, where
different departmental teams identified opportunities to change a process
or increase activity which would lead to additional revenue. By focusing on
driving things like additional referrals and elevated customer service has
had an unexpected impact, it’s given the organization increased attention
and credibility with their customers. “Our salespeople are excited to tell
potential customers about our participation in the Great Game,” says
Costello, “which sets us apart and shows that we are honest and attentive
to detail.”

“The Great Game of Business® has brought some renewed excitement for
our company, and it has been a real eye opener to our business potenial!!!”

~ Greg Hamlin, Corporate Account Manager

What’s Next?

For Costello, the big next step is for him to learn to get out of the way and
let his people run the business using the Great Game system. “I’ve become
less involved in the huddle as team members now are responsible for
reporting line items and budgets,” he says. “I have handed off some of my
day-to-day responsibilities to the team and managers. I’m beginning to
see daylight and, in the months ahead, I can be working ON the business
not IN the business.”

“The weekly huddles are very informative and help me to learn more about the
company I am working for. I’m still fairly new and I’ve never seen anything like

this. The company sharing detailed financial information with new hires. It’s
impressive.” ~ John J. Peiffer, Assistant to the Sales & Marketing Team

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

CM’s Outdoor Solution Group

Location: Omaha, Nebraska
2018 Revenues: $5.5 million
Employees: 46
The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax (PBT)

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

After running the business for more than 20 years, Started in 1993, and formerly known as CM’s
founder Chuck Monico wanted to find a system that A Cut Above, CM’s Outdoor Solutions Group
would help create a greater sense of purpose and provides a range of lawncare and landscaping
opportunity for all team members, including H2B workers services.
from Mexico, to make a difference and see results, with
an ultimate goal of building a foundation to eventually “The Great Game has brought
transfer ownership to the employees. everyone closer as a group because we
now understand the numbers. We’re
Solution looking out for each other a lot more; we
try to have everyone’s back. We’re still
After Monico and a group of team members attended learning every day. But it changes how I
the 2017 Annual Gathering of Games, they decided to look at work. And when we play
implement Great Game with the help of a coach, Kevin MiniGames, it’s like everyone is a kid
Walter, in February 2018. again. It makes work fun.” ~ Jose Pasillas,
Foreman
Results

Not only has the team’s financial performance
improved, the team is asking more questions and
leaders are emerging who are willing and capable of
making decisions at the front-line level. “The team now
understands how to make a profit—which was something
we didn’t let them know before,” says Monico. Thanks
to ideas generated by the associates, the company has
also created new diverse lines of business including
becoming a dealer for a new line of battery-operated
lawn equipment and providing mower and small
equipment repair services for clients. “It’s really exciting
to see what our younger people can do once they get
the opportunity to learn about the business of being
in business,” says Monico, who describes himself as a
recovering accountant. “I’ve had to rewire myself. It’s a
reminder about how powerful it can be when you remove
the complexity and just focus on making more than you
spend.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

“Things have changed because of playing The Great Game of Business. More people are interested
and engaged. It’s a snowball effect. Before, we would get our job tickets with no explanation behind
it. Now we see the effects of every job and whether we made a margin or not. Thanks to the Great
Game, everything is now open to us; all the information is there. Our crew members are getting
educated on the business and they’ve begun asking the right questions. We’re not leaving anyone
behind anymore.” ~ Irvin Hernandez-Saavedra, Landscape Foreman

MiniGame™ Spotlight

Monico says his team has used MiniGames to support sales efforts across
many service lines, inspire innovation and an owner-like mentality in their
field personnel, and create better communication channels. He says they are
currently running nine MiniGames across the company, which have a cumulative
goal of generating $230,000 in new revenue for the business. “Although we
have had good results from our games,” he says, “we have found that the
learning and communication that revolves around them is invaluable. They
facilitate learning in fun ways that are easy to relate back to the all-company
scoreboard and further the financial understanding of each employee.”

“I have wondered over the years how we stayed in business given all the money we spent. Now,
getting to know the big picture through the financials, I can see how it all fits together. I see how
all the lines on the income statement impact each other and how we can make a dollar in the end.
Great Game™ gets our team to think outside the box and make decisions based on what’s best for

the company where we can all benefit through our GainShare program.”
~ Matt McMaster, Division Manager.

What’s Next?

While the team has made enormous progress over the past year, the team sees
multiple areas where they can improve, including their huddles, where they
continue to make strides in explaining the numbers to their bilingual workforce.
Monico also sees room for improvement in the team’s forecasting abilities and
in moving toward more bottom-up budgeting and strategic planning through
the High-Involvement Planning™ process.

“The Great Game of Business has helped take our culture to another level. It’s opened up the entire business
and helped us become better communicators. It’s made us a destination place to work. It’s become our way to

engage our entire workforce and to grow the company from the bottom up instead of the top down.”
~ Bobby Byers, Landscape Designer, Marketing Coordinator, and Chairman of the OCC

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Community Partnership of the
Ozarks

Location: Springfield, MO
2018 Revenues: $4.7 million
Employees: 64
The Critical Number™: Unrestricted Revenue

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Community Partnership of the Ozarks (CPO) is a strengths-based The organization has a mission to facilitate
agency that works to include staff at all levels into planning, and promote the building of resilient children,
evaluation, and implementation of projects and programming. healthy families, and strong neighborhoods
But it is also an incredibly diverse and complex organization and communities through collaboration,
where much of their revenue is restricted to certain projects. They programming, and resource development.
wanted to find a system that could help connect and engage the
entire team in fulfilling their shared mission by finding additional “GGOB has made us a more intentional
ways to help their community. organization. In years past, staff might
not have been as ‘bought in’ to the
Solution orgnization as a whole—more focused on
program success than the organization. Now,
With the help of a 10-week jumpstart program led by coach the success of our core budget translates to
Katie Davis, CPO looked to The Great Game of Business® success for us all. And personally, I feel like I
(GGOB) starting in 2017 as a natural fit for their organization’s can contribute in a meaningful way, by cutting
environment as a way to provide the structure to help them costs or by making sure any grants I write
create an empowered team through budget transparency. “Our have dollars for the core included.”
mission speaks of collaboration,” says Dankert, “and our goal in ~ Dana Carroll, VP of Early Childhood &
playing GGOB was to increase this collaboration internally through Family Development
creating more opportunities to collaborate with those we don’t
work with daily.”

Results

As a result of playing Great Game™, there is a more in-depth
knowledge among the team of the impact of contributions on
CPO’s core budget and how that ripple effect impacts individual
programs. “We have always been open and honest in our
internal interactions,” says Janet Dankert, CPO’s president and
CEO. “But GGOB has allowed our entire team to experience the
transparency of our operations. We are also starting to talk GGOB
in our everyday work as teams, programs, and divisions. It is
a mind shift, but one our team of very creative and principled
individuals has embraced. It has also created ONE team working
toward an overall goal for the financial health of our agency—we
may only be one small piece, but we now see the connection to
the entire team.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

Over the past two years, CPO has conducted seven MiniGames, something Dankert says
has had a big impact on the successful adoption of The Game inside the organization.
Three of those games focused on the entire organization: “Chip in to Win,” which focused
on increasing the number of items donated for their signature fundraiser’s silent auction;
“Raffle to Ride,” which focused on increasing ticket sales for their another fundraiser; and
“Digging Deep,” which focused on increasing the value of items donated for our signature
fundraiser. They also conducted four division-wide MiniGames: “Summer Survival,” which
collected summer survival items for the homeless; “Toolbelts Full of Cash,” which aimed at
increasing revenue for our Springfield Tool Library; “Making a Splash This Summer,” which
focused on increasing attendance at events across five different programs in the division;
and “Random Acts of In-Kindness,” the goal of which was to increase in-kind donations
compared to the previous year. “In each MiniGame, we met or exceeded our goal!” says
Dankert.

“I believe GGOB impacted our organization by teaching us how to increase our
transparency and accountability. Through coaching and support, we learned how to tell the
story of our financials (core budget) and were able to share that story with all staff and help
them understand the importance. Learning about the financial health of our organization and

how we can make an individual impact, I believe has led to increased ownership of staff.”
~ Patricia Deck, VP of Community & Neighborhood Development

What’s Next?

Dankert says the goal for the next year is to continue to increase the financial literacy of the
team through huddles and forecasting. “We tried to do financial literacy training in our staff
meetings,” she says, “but we need to be more intentional about holding sessions outside
of those meetings.” Because there are more team members than lines in their budget,
Dankert also plans to shift line ownership around so that everyone inside the organization
can be coached on how their organization is tied together financially. “Another thing we
want to do next year is to really drill down into our program budgets,” says Dankert. “While
there isn’t a lot of opportunity to change budgets because we are so driven by grants and
contracts, it might give us the chance to become more efficient at the programmatic level.”

“The impact of GGOB is the sense of ownership I have for making sure we hit our targets in managing expenses and
bringing in income. When considering new projects, new programs, or even considering the purchase of office supplies,
I stop to consider the following: 1) Is this necessary or will something we already have the resources for work for now? 2) I
need this – who can I find willing to pay for it or sponsor it? 3) I can delay the gratification for this program/project/item until
funds are available or it is given to me. I feel personally responsible for ensuring my department’s programs are financially

sustainable and supported.” ~ Denise Johnson, Director of Financial Stability

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Double O Supply & Craftsmen

Location: Grand Rapids, MI
2018 Revenues: $8 million
Employees: 45
The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Find a way to connect employees to how the company made a Founded in 1997, Double O designs, supplies,
profit and generated cash—while also helping them understand installs, and services commercial glazing,
why decisions were made and get them more involved in making windows, and doors.
the decisions themselves. Founder Michael Otis also wanted to
find a way where the entire team could share the rewards from “One of the dynamic impacts that GGOB has
their hard work and success. had is with our younger field team workers
who are learning and experiencing how
Solution business fundamentals work and the impact of
what they do / don’t do effects specific areas
While Otis had known about The Great Game of Business® of the business. It has created a sense of team
(GGOB) for 25 years, it was reconnecting with The Game at an where we are all ‘in this together’ pulling for a
Inc. 5000 conference, followed by a visit to The Git in the Game better place to work and even realizing
Workshop™ in Springfield, MO, that he decided to pull the trigger bonuses from good performance.” ~ Tom
on implementing The Game with the help of their coach, Kevin Ralya, Manager, Sales & Client Relations
Walter.

Results

Otis says that the company was experiencing some financial
difficulty throughout their first year of implementation in 2016.
“We were in the middle of a crisis when we began Great Game™
so we knew the jump into this would be risky,” he says. That year
the company made very little profit and couldn’t pay out bonuses.
The next year was better, though still not exceptional. Then this
past year, their third year playing The Game, they increased
revenue by 50% and increased profits by over 200%— earning
more than they had earned in the first 16 years of their existence
combined. As a result, the company paid out $139,500 in profit
sharing bonuses, something Otis says was the greatest thrill of his
career. “I don’t believe that we would even be in business today
if it were not for implementing The Great Game of Business in
our company,” says Otis. “This is not overstating the case; this has
truly been life changing for us. I would encourage any company
considering implementing GGOB to just do it, whatever the
cost, regardless of their stage of company. This is the future of
business and this will change their life as an entrepreneur.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

An example of one MiniGame the team played in 2018 was called “Shoot the
Moon,” which had a nine-week goal to bring in more sales and revenue by
bidding more and larger projects while maintaining a healthy closing ratio.
Winning the challenge would create a lasting change that would increase the
company’s revenue $2 million annually with a gross profit of some $500,000.
Another MiniGame that had an impact was called “OnSite,” which was designed
with a goal to get associates working in the field on the job site sooner each
day as a way to maximize hours worked. The goal was to save some $20,000
in lost man hours over a ten-week period. The actual benefit of the MiniGame
came out to be $17,250 in savings to the company—less the cost of the prizes
and celebrations that cost the company about $2,250—so the net gain to the
company was $15,000. “And the improved habits continue to this day for a
significant ongoing benefit to the company,” says Otis.

“Our company is more conscious of what we spend money on. Field crew members who
really only wanted to swing a hammer have engaged and asked amazing questions to further
their knowledge. We challenge one another to spend wisely and see if it is a necessity or if we

can hold off to purchase an item for the company. It has made us aware of what we are
spending money on- and it has also helped us have a better understanding of where the
budgets need to be enforced to grow our company. I really enjoy getting to see our company
thrive and work as a team to accomplish our goals.” ~ Corey Tinker, Accounting Specialist

What’s Next?

In the next year, Otis would like to see his team get better at MiniGames
by addressing some weak spots. But an even bolder goal is to embrace an
organization-wide High-Involvement Planning™ process where the entire
team will be involved in creating their annual budget, as well as their five and
ten-year targets. “Right now, our budgeting process involves the accounting
department too much and not enough of our associates,” says Otis. “I want
our entire team to own the numbers.”

“Everything we do is done better thanks to The Game. Before we started GGOB, we were the typical
Sell, Perform, Review (hoping for the best), React (overact if it didn’t go well) company. Since doing
GGOB, we know where we are on jobs as we go and make course corrects as we go. All of our systems
revolve around getting better numbers/data. The Game has created greater accountability and buy-in
throughout the organization. The biggest impact has come from bringing the team together around
a clear common goal with guidance from a set of values defined by the people who have to live them

out. The practice of being together and going through the numbers is important to keep all of us
connected.” ~ William Riley, Vice President / Sales & Marketing Director

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Essential Ingredients

Location: Lawrenceville, GA
2018 Revenues: $114.4 million
Employees: 60
The Critical Number™: EBITDA; Supplier
Growth (Pounds Sold)

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

When co-founder and CEO Kris Maynard and his partners Essential Ingredients (Ei) was founded in May
decided to sell 100% of their company to an ESOP in 2011, they 1996 in in Augusta, GA. The company, which
were excited about the future of their business. But then the distributes chemicals and other supplies to the
company went into a financial nosedive—what Maynard calls cosmetics industry, has been 100% employee-
their “ESOP Death Valley.” Maynard admits that he had played a owned since 2011. With a stated purpose of
part in running the company in a way where employees had been “being a blessing to others and inspiring others
protected from the financial challenges the business faced. “We to be a blessing as well,” Essential Ingredients is
kept our P&L in a locked vault,” he says. Adding to the stress was driven to remain independent and live out this
the fact that the company had taken on bank debt for the first purpose for decades to come.
time ever to finance the buyout.
“I would like to say that the principles of open-book management,
Solution High-Involvement Planning and financial transparency/reporting
have been impactful to me in multiple ways. First, I feel like I have a
When Maynard first learned about The Great Game of Business® seat at the table when discussions regarding company
(GGOB) in 2014, he immediately recognized that it could performance take place. There are no rumors floating around on
help associates inside the business to think and act like the how the company is performing and why we might be changing
owners they had become. By embracing financial literacy and our course to achieve future goals. To me, this is vital to feeling
transparency, and creating shared goals, Maynard hoped the Ei respected and valued. I take this feeling back with me to my own
team could achieve better engagement among employee-owners function in the company and feel empowered to make decisions
in performing against their annual budget. They began playing and represent myself as a valued representative of Essential Ingre-
Great Game™ companywide in 2016. dients. I also think about all of my tasks with a mind to how I impact
our bottom line. Finally, I think that sharing in the knowledge of the
Results current state of the company and the plans for our futures give each
of us a special responsibility. I see very little ‘buck passing’ here
“Prior to GGOB my thinking was that employees really just wanted but if I did, I would be alarmed. There is no excuse for each of us
a good job, culture, and benefits,” says Maynard. “What I have not taking ownership of our special function at Ei.”
learned is that they want those things, but much more. They are ~ Cindi Stanesic, Senior Customer Service Representative
anxious to understand what makes the company ‘tick’ from a
financial perspective.” Today, the financials, and the success of the
company, are now the responsibility of a team of employees—not
just a handful of individuals. The Great Game of Business has also
had a huge impact on the company’s financials. Since the team
began playing The Game, Ei’s revenue compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) has been 16.4% while the industry CAGR has been
1.9%. At the same time, Ei’s EBITDA CAGR is 13.8%. “We now have
accountability to the numbers from all of our employee owners,”
says Maynard. “That’s why there is such great alignment between
ESOPS and playing the Great Game.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

MiniGames have become an important of the way the Ei team tackles problems and creates
new habits. For example, one recent MiniGame was called “Let’s Get it on Like Donkey Kong
– the Glycerin Challenge,” which was targeted at growing a product line that previously had
limited penetration. The MiniGame helped focus the team’s efforts on building customer
awareness and exposure to the product. The result was an impressive 4x in targeted
growth—just short of 100 metric tons of new business. Another example of a MiniGame
the team played was called “Budding Relations,” which was designed to create impactful
relationships with their supplier partners with the hope of enhancing communications in
a crisis as well as ensuring enhanced support (supply) during these crises. Those improved
relationships played a key role when Ei ran into a shortage of two of its key raw materials—
which their suppliers helped them mitigate.

“Once I began to better understand the numbers and what they meant, I truly started to feel like an
owner. It really made a difference for me because I could see my stake in the game. It changed my
way of thinking in so many different ways. I became more aware of where I could make a difference
and that even a small part is an important part. Accuracy, attention to details, and freight costs are just
a few of the ways I realized that money could be saved. Seeing those numbers gives you a visual to
how every dollar counts. Budgeting had always been something I thought of as restrictive and neg-
ative for whatever reason. Now, I don’t think I could function without one!” ~ Gigi Cauthen, Assistant

Customer Relations Manager

What’s Next?

With their continued success playing GGOB, Ei is growing—especially in terms of adding
new employee owners to the staff. With that influx of talent, Maynard says the team needs
to focus on renewed financial acumen training, especially for their associates. “The earlier
we can get them acclimated to the system, the better,” says Maynard.

Another area Maynard would like to see team improve on is the development of better
contingency plans as part of its High-Involvement Planning™ (HIP) process it can execute
on if the team looks like it will come up short on its goals for the year. “We have thrived
during the good times,” says Maynard, “but we need to be ready to deal with the bad times
as well.”

“Despite years of working for very large companies, I was never privy to the bottom line. We either received a
bonus at the end of the year or didn’t – only a handful of people really knew why. When they went public, it was

a madhouse of clandestine meetings and money manipulation to make the share price go higher. It seemed
duplicitous and made me very nervous…the open-book management we have all learned at Ei has been like
a light to me; I’m so grateful. I think about our bottom line with every purchase I make for Ei, and love to learn
from those around me who do the same. We have leaders who share as much as possible about financial details,
and even stop to teach the basics to anyone who wants to learn… Thanks to what I’ve learned from GGOB, I

know to look not just days out but months (and hope to advance to years) for our financial roadmap. I have
financial goals now; this is a statement I never imagined I’d be able to make.” ~ Heidi Floyd, Executive Assistant

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

2019 Highlights Case Study

Challenge Global Recovery Corp.

While the GRC team came out of the gate strong with $8 million in Location: Springfield, MO
sales their first year, they also had challenges to overcome, such 2018 Revenues: $7.4 million
as $1.5 million accounts receivable and a $3 million loan balance Employees: 16
they needed to pay back. They needed to find a way to work The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax (PBT)
together in running a sustainably profitable business of their own
by focusing on expenses, cash flows, collections, and inventory Company Background
turns.
Global Recovery Corp. (GRC) was spun-out of a
Solution department of SRC Logistics back in 2013 with
just five employees. The company works with
As SRC employees, GRC’s founding team has been practicing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to
The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) for years. But now they help maximize their return on aging, obsolete
needed The Game even more to help them grow their business as core inventories and scrap.
an independent unit. They needed all of our employees capable
of making day to day decisions while understanding the kind of “I am so impressed with our
impact those decisions would have on the business in areas like momentum. GRC has made a lot of
costs, inventory, and investments. progress the past few years and I
think that continues to fuel us. It is
Results empowering to be a part of a
company that values what you say,
From the company’s start, GGOB has helped strengthen their supports you during challenges, and
balance sheet and the financial stability of their company. Their keeps you accountable. We
debt-to-equity ratio has dropped from 9.12 their first year to celebrate our wins and we learn from
2.32 in 2018. They have also increased their asset turnover some our loses. It is an exciting time to be
39%, which signals they are using their assets to generate sales a part of GRC!” ~ LaCinda Ennis,
and turn those assets into cash. The team has also used the Accounting and HR Generalist
High-Involvement Planning™ (HIP) process to help them form
contingencies and to both diversify their business and to defend
against times the market has turned against them. “Practicing
The Great Game of Business has developed a culture at GRC
where employees feel valued,” says Neil Chambers, GRC’s General
Manager. “Everyone has a voice in the decision making and
strategy of the company. Employees know how they contribute to
the success of the company on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.”
GRC also won the “Owner’s Cup” in 2018, which is awarded to the
SRC division who best embodies the principles of Great Game™.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The GRC team uses MiniGames to promote accountability and to celebrate
wins as a team. One example was a sales department challenge to improve
descriptions and increase the number of inventory items listed on eBay. As
a result of playing the game, and improving the quality of their listings, their
eBay revenue is up 64% year-over-year. A second example was a MiniGame
aimed at speeding up their receipt to shipment process—which generated an
additional $89,000 in margin in just 90 days.

“Playing the ‘Game’ gives everyone in the company a voice and an opportunity to drive our
success. It also gives each member of the team the ability to see how they personally make a

difference to the company’s success or failure.” ~ Jason Taylor, Core Buyer

What’s Next?

Chambers says that the team’s biggest stumbling block has been getting past
the day-to-day issues and dedicating the time needed to focus on long-term
growth and strategy.” High-Involvement Planning is not a one day, one week
or one-month event,” he says. “It must be worked on throughout the year with
frequent discussions and updates. With a small group of employees, it is easy
to get pulled in different directions and it can be difficult to regularly set aside
the time to focus on long-term strategies. To combat this, we encourage all
of our employees to openly discuss the challenges they face in our weekly
huddles and empower everyone to come up with their own solutions to our
challenges.” To that point, Chambers would like to see his team get better
at creating MiniGames where the rewards are self-funding. “We love to play
games,” he says, “but I think that sometimes we do them just to have fun.
That’s still has benefits because whether you’re bowling or sharing a pizza, it
brings your team tighter together. But I’d still like us to improve the depth and
the scope of the problems we can tackle through them.”

“Playing The Great Game of Business empowers me to make business decisions and know
the impact of those decisions on a daily basis. As an employee, I appreciate focusing on
specific business challenges and turning those challenges into a benefit to the company.

When we play MiniGames it makes it feel like we are doing something different even if it is
just putting a spin on the same thing. I have never worked for a company that openly

discusses the company’s long-term growth and strategy like GRC. I feel like I am involved
in shaping the company when we discuss goals and strategy in our huddles. I don’t know if I

could go back to working for a traditionally ran company.”
~ Keaton Paylor, National Sales Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Greene County Missouri

Location: Springfield, MO

Employees: 750

2019 Highlights

Challenge The administrators of Greene County, Missouri,
had long admired the business practices of one
The county has struggled from time to time in managing of its homegrown companies, SRC Holdings. While
its resources across its various departments. Specifically, running a public-sector organization is very
the cash balance in the county’s general fund had different than running a for-profit business,
waned in previous years. But with a tax increase fix off county administrators believed they could benefit
the table, the county neededan alternative to increase its by implementing The Great Game of Business®
cash balance. (GGOB) best practices.

Solution Company Background

Implement department-wide huddles once a week to Greene County is a county located in Southwest
teach financial literacy to attendees and, once a month, Missouri with a population of more
talk through updates to the budget. The county also than 275,000, making it the fourth most populous
implemented a series of MiniGames™ to help further county in Missouri. Its county seat
educate county employees on the intricacies of the is Springfield – home of SRC and The Great Game
budget. of Business. Due to the success of
companies like SRC, Bass Pro Shops, and O’Reilly
Results Auto Parts, Greene County ranks in
the top five counties nationwide based on
The county’s cash balance is stable and healthier than it economic strength and viability
has been in years, says Cindy Stein, the County Auditor.
With the extra resources, the county could afford to “Whether you are for-profit or not,
give its employees their first cost-of-living raise in nearly you can’t run an organization if you
six years (and without raising taxes). Based on the don’t know your numbers.”
improvements the county made in its cash balance –
some $10 million in just 5 years-one of the major credit
rating agencies increased the county’s very good double-A
rating to an even better triple-A.

“Just because someone’s job doesn’t
deal with finances, doesn’t mean they

can’t solve a problem, eliminate an
inefficiency, or identify a new
opportunity.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

When Greene County held its first county wide huddle three years ago, 18 people showed up. After playing
GGOB for several years now, attendance at weekly huddles has spiked to a regular turnout of about
50 people. “People were just reporting the budget numbers two years ago,” says Stein. “But they didn’t
understand them. That’s changed.” In fact, Stein says at a recent meeting, an IT employee questioned a
figure that the budget office had reported – and she was right. Stein, whose office has been leading the
charge in holding weekly financial literacy sessions for her associates in the county, says that an important
lesson they remind people of is when someone raises a question, it’s about the number – not the person.
There are also ample opportunities to learn the intricacies of the county’s budget, since the General Revenue
Fund is comprised of more than 1,000 line items. Stein admits that while they have made progress as an
organization, they still have room to grow, especially since many of the county’s 750 employees work the
second or third shift. To address those communication hurdles, regular huddle attendees have stepped
up to take responsibility for sharing what they learn with others in their department. The county has also
implemented a dashboard with the latest numbers on its website: greenecountymo.org.

“I don’t know where we would be without playing the GGOB.”

What’s Next?

Perhaps one of the most lasting changes the GGOB has brought about in the county’s offices is that the
team now actively embraces High-Involvement Planning™ sessions, which are open to the public, which
has drastically improved their forecasting abilities. “We have improved our projections so much that we
can now use them in our decision making process,” says Stein. It had long been standard practice for the
county to do forecasting only when i came to creating budgets for the coming year. But with the help of
GGOB, county officials have become apt at forecasting throughout the year as a way to make proactive
rather than reactive decisions. Case in point: the county was able to hand out long overdue raises to its
employees before the end of the year, thanks to its ability to forecast where the cash balance would be at
the end of the year. “Now we’re asking questions like can we afford to replace the roof on the courthouse
or prepare for a new judge, because we’re planning ahead,” says Stein. The accuracy of the county’s budget
projections was also a contributing factor in the county’s bond upgrade.

“The task in front of us is to continue to push the game down
into the organizationmore deeply and involve more and
more employees at every level.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

GUY Engineering

Location: Tulsa, OK
2018 Revenues: $5.9 million
Employees: 39
The Critical Number™: Revenue/Labor Ratio

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Educate the employee-owners in the company’s ESOP GUY Engineering is a consulting firm with
how to think and act like owners when it comes to extensive experience in civil engineering and
running their business—including how to pay off the debt land surveying. Since 1987, GUY has been
accrued from buying out the founder. providing quality design work on hundreds
of projects ranging from roadway and bridge
Solution designs to water distribution and sanitary
sewer improvements throughout the state of
Implement weekly huddles to update scoreboards, and Oklahoma.
assign ownership of every line item to an employee-
owner who is responsible for learning about and tracking “Thanks to the Great Game, we are
that line item for six months. Also conduct company-wide now much better at long-range
financial literacy training and encourage employee- planning. We also do a much better
owners to begin forecasting their numbers and think job at connecting the organization
years ahead through the High-Involvement Planning™ together through the flow of our
(HIP) process. huddles. We now can translate our
day-to-day activities into a better
Results forecast and how each of us impacts
our critical number.” ~ Aaron Peck,
The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) became a Vice President
framework and a process to help the GUY team adapt
to changes in their industry, to explore ways to keep
revenue high during challenging times, and to seek
continuous improvement—while also earning regular
bonuses, higher revenue, and lowering their debt.
Playing Great Game™ has also helped the company
diversify its client base. Before, their primary client was
the Oklahoma Dept of Transportation. Now, they have
added numerous cities and counties to their roster of
clients, as well as tribes and private entities. The GUY
team has also leveraged its HIP process to explore new
ideas and business opportunities. For example, in 2018
they began offering environmental services. “We actually
increased our revenue during a recent industry downturn
because we diversified into new revenue streams,” says
CEO John Blickensderfer. “GGOB also taught us to look
ahead and be proactive, which meant we were not caught
by surprise by the industry downturn. We continue to
explore new opportunities and look for ways to expand
our services and our clients.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The GUY team strives to hold two to three company-wide MiniGames each
year— focusing on such diverse topics as financial literacy, productivity,
culture, and personal health. “MiniGames help us focus deeply on a particular
issue and are always fun,” says Blickensderfer. The team’s 2018 strategic
plan also required each department or team to participate in at least one
“microgame”—a department-level MiniGame—each year, with the goal of
helping a particular department address issues or problems specific to their
area. “Our goal is to keep MiniGames and microgames simple, focused, and
fun,” says Blickensderfer.

“I’ve never worked for a business that plays The Great Game of Business. I’ve noticed how
alert and aware the employees are—especially financially. They are much more engaged and

care about the success of the company.” ~ Michael Twyman, Director of Finance and HR

What’s Next?

One area where the team is focused on for the next year is their succession
planning, as Blickensderfer plans to retire within the next five years. To help
educate the team and address their questions, he has been sharing teachable
moments in their weekly huddles about what the process will look like and
how the different potential scenarios might impact all of the associates. Along
similar lines, the team plans to continue to evolve their huddles to include more
educational components to help associates learn more about their business
and industry while also coming up with new ideas of how they can continue to
grow and diversify their business. “We are always learning and growing in our
Great Game journey and are always excited to implement new ideas and to
learn from other companies,” says Blickensderfer.

“Everyone feels the impact when we share the numbers in our huddle. When
things don’t look good in our forecast, you can feel the energy flow out. But that

doesn’t mean we give up. We all know we can still turn things around in the
coming weeks. We all have the confidence that we can do better. We

immediately make adjustments to upcoming work schedules and plans to bring
the numbers up.” ~ Stacey Schifferdecker, Business Development/Marketing
Coordinator

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Hildebrandt Tree Tech

Location: Lubbock, TX
2018 Revenues: $1.5 million
Employees: 19
The Critical Number™: EBITDA

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

When Hildebrandt started his company back in 2010, one A full-service tree care company serving the tree
of his biggest frustrations was not knowing how to let his care needs of home owners and businesses.
team know “the score” of the game: the financials. “I felt “We do anything that has to do with trees,” says
like I was asking them to play a game with no score and I founder and CEO, Casey Hildebrandt.
didn’t have the ability to share the highs and lows of the
game,” he says. “Efficiency benefits have been the
biggest plus from GGOB.
Solution Transparency from top to bottom
creates a healthy environment for the
When he first read The Great Game of Business, psyche. It helped create the feeling
Hildebrandt felt like he had found the Holy Grail of how of camaraderie and family. Which
to run a business so that everyone could know and brings out the best in everyone.”
understand the score. “Having read many other business ~ Jose Barcenas, Operations
books, Jack Stack’s book felt like the first business book Manager
I had read that was practical and applicable to the blue-
collar worker,” says Hildebrandt. After visiting Springfield,
MO, Hildebrandt decided to implement The Great Game
of Business® (GGOB) in his business in January 2018 with
the help of his coach, Kevin Walter.

Results

In 2017, the company’s EBITDA was 9%. For 2018, their
critical number goal was 12% EBITDA. “As a smaller
company playing GGOB we felt EBITDA was a number
everyone could have line of sight to how they can have
an impact,” says Hildebrandt. When the year ended,
though, the company had earned an 18% EBITDA—which
meant that all the associates earned the equivalent of
an 8% bonus. “There is much more transparency at all
levels of the company and improved communication,”
says Hildebrandt. “Playing GGOB has made each team
member understand their individual roles and how they
impact The Critical Number clearer to themselves and
the other players on the team. There is a substantial
commitment of time involved in designing, launching, and
playing The Game that at first can seem intimidating. But
the results are worth every minute.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The most popular MiniGame the Hildebrandt team has played to date
was the first one it played. It was called “Load to Road,” and its goal was to
get trucks loaded and ready to leave the shop by 8:15 a.m. or earlier each
day. Before playing this MiniGame, the associates might linger around
the shop or be forced to return after hitting the road because they forget
to load a critical piece of equipment. Now, thanks to the MiniGame, the
team shows up at 8 a.m. and is ready to roll to their job sites on time. “It
has been very enjoyable to hear the front line production guys talk about
ways to improve efficiency in many of the small day to day tasks such as
getting out the shop in the mornings more timely, organizing tools and
trucks, and helping another crew finish their job if their crew is ahead
of schedule for the day,” says Hildebrandt. “These are the small things
that the supervisors have ‘preached’ for ages, but now it’s the associate’s
game that they helped create.”

I truly believe that GGOB has opened the eyes of ALL those working at Hildebrandt
Tree Tech, including myself. It’s easy to feel that your contribution to a business may
be very small, but through GGOB, we all now realize what an impact we have on the

growth and success of the entire company.” ~ Edie Tunstall, Office Manager

What’s Next?

In the coming year, Hildebrandt would like to double down in getting
his team to understand the financials of the business, as well as to start
looking at how they might implement a collaborative High-Involvement
Planning™ approach to their strategic planning. “We have learned is that
GGOB is not a magic formula that makes all your problems go away,”
says Hildebrandt. “But GGOB does give you an increased level of trust
and teamwork that allows your people to work through those stumbling
blocks together. I really think a business is crazy to not include their team
in the numbers of the business and give them a chance to play The Game.”

“Personally, transparency and truthfulness has had immeasurable impact
on my life. The Great Game of Business takes the level of transparency I
desire in my own life and applies it to our business life. We are being

rewarded as a company because of doing business the GGOB way!”
~ Kelly Hildebrandt, Head of Operations

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

ImageOne

Location: Oak Park, MI
2018 Revenues: $17.4 million
Employees: 70
The Critical Number™: Net Profit

2019 Highlights Company Background

Challenge imageOne is a 28-year-old company that
provides managed print services, which includes
The company initially saw Great Game™ as a system that sales and service for copiers, printers, scanners
could help them reverse a scary financial slide where as well as supplies and software solutions.
revenue and profit growth had gone negative. More
recently, they’ve used the system to help overcome the “The Great Game of Business®
slowdown in their sales pipeline and as a way to better (GGOB) has helped me to feel like
connect and engage their team in where the business will I can be an agent of change in our
go into the future. business. I have so much gratitude
for imageOne for allowing their team
Solution members to act as owners. Knowing
that your thoughts and ideas matter
Embrace the principles of GGOB, including teaching makes a world of difference. When
financial literacy company-wide, as a way to unite all you feel that your input matters a job
employees to think and act like owners. is no longer a job—it is a joyful gift.”
~ Holly Linton, Junior Accountant
Results

The imageOne team has focused their Critical Number™
on net profit since they began playing the Great Game
in 2015 as a way to better measure if they are on track
to achieve their ten-year vision as well as their annual
team member bonus plan. Not only did the team shatter
their 2018 profit goal by more than $500,000, they also
recognized that the company’s profits are up more than
$900,000 since 2015. “Once our team understood the
impact every single individual could have on our bottom
line, they understood how much fun playing GGOB could
be at the same time,” says Dube. “We have seen so much
creativity and fun in MiniGames™, visuals, rewards, and
huddle activities.”

“The balance sheet is the company’s thermometer. It lets you know whether you’re
healthy or not. At every company meeting we go through our balance sheet. It has
allowed our team to row in the same direction. It keeps our goals out in the open for
everyone to share in and contribute effort towards. Once the goal is met it then allows
the success that comes from it to be shared equally by the team. As the team becomes
more invested in the success of our organization as measured by the balance sheet, it
allows for a higher level of employee engagement, and the dedication to do the right
thing for all involved. The byproduct of exceeding goals as a team is that it cuts through
a ‘we’/’they’ mentality that can silo other organizations. GGOB is an amazing tool that
has added new elements to the culture at imageOne. It adds definition to the areas of
our business that might otherwise have been considered gray.” ~ Dan Driscoll, Michigan
Tech Team Lead

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

Designating a MiniGame champion has helped keep the imageOne team
motivated while also reminding everyone that MiniGames are great tools to
solve business challenges. Their designated champion, Samantha, even created
a MiniGame to create MiniGames! To make sure MiniGames are always top-of-
mind for each department within the company, the imageOne team also has a
highly visible MiniGame scorecard which highlights which teams have played
a MiniGame each quarter.

“Playing MiniGames has brought so much energy and focus to everyday tasks that might
have been otherwise overlooked. The GGOB has showed me how one small change in

the way I do things every day can have such a large impact on our bottom line!”
~ Karla Stickney, Customer Care Representative

What’s Next?

As an improvement goal for the coming year, Dube would like the team to
get stronger at their line item ownership on the income statement—and to
make sure that everyone feels like their voice is being heard. He’d also like
to see how to make more mundane lines, like travel costs and general of-
fice purchases, more meaningful to the entire team. One experiment they’re
beginning is to create committees of people to own a bucket of related line
items as a way to spread the responsibility of finding new ways to report the
stories behind those numbers among a team of people. “If people are part of
the process they buy in,” says Dube. “It also gives the team more insight into
the company as a whole and to think about other departments and how we
work together as a team. That’s why GGOB is a transformational force. It’s
not just changing your business, it’s changing lives for the better. It’s why we
do this.”

“I feel it has unified and strengthened us and made dealing with challenges really fun. The use of
MiniGames helps us creatively solve business challenges and sheds light on areas of the company that

I may not have had an insight into. On a personal level, I am able to set and then break down larger
financial goals with my children into smaller MiniGames, which they really enjoy. Right now we have a
VR headset MiniGame going with my son, and I’m confident he’s making the small changes he needs

to reach his September deadline and win his Big Game! The GGOB experience is one that will
staywith me for a lifetime. I am grateful!” ~ Tracey Iverson, Marketing Coordinator

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

2019 Highlights Case Study

Challenge Intrust IT

Better educate employees about finances and making Location: Cincinnati, OH
money—especially as the company evolves into an ESOP. 2018 Revenues: $5.4 million
Employees: 25
Solution The Critical Number™: Efficiency (Hours
Per Endpoint)
Implement and embrace The Great Game of Business®
(GGOB) practices like huddling, financial literacy training, Company Background
and forecasting to focus the entire team on cutting costs
and finding ways to increase their margins. Intrust IT, which was founded in 1992, provides
information technology support for small and
Results medium-sized businesses that can’t afford an IT
department of their own. The firm boasts more
“The GGOB without a doubt has had the biggest impact than 100 customers, most of who reside in the
on our financials as any other program we’ve done greater Cincinnati area.
in the 27-year history of the company,” says CEO Tim
Rettig. “Each quarter we continue to set new records “I personally am infinitely more
in both percent and dollar amount of net profit.” That’s knowledgeable on the financial workings
something the whole team has benefitted from last year of a business than I ever thought I would
as they earned a 12% company-wide bonus. Even better, be. This has led me to be ever aware of
they are on track to earn a 20% bonus in 2019. “As the costs and constantly looking for ways to
business owner I feel like everyone is pulling in the same increase revenue. It has led me to
direction,” says Rettig. “I get a really good estimate of become much more invested in the
what our financials look like each week, instead of waiting overall financial success of the company
until two weeks after the month ends.” more so than I ever have been previously
The company’s culture is now stronger because of at other jobs or thought I would be.”
GGOB. There is a new sense of camaraderie. The team ~ Josh Rees, Client Success Manager
now discusses each other’s line items during their
Tuesday huddles and they want to know why items
change. More importantly, if a number fluctuates, the
person responsible is excited to tell the group why.
Each person now owns his or her number and feels
personally responsible for it—which has created a feeling
for everyone that “we’re all in this together.” “We have
much less turnover, and everyone in the company is very
engaged with the profitability of the company because
they understand what’s going on with the finances, how
they can make changes, and directly benefit when the
company does well,” says Rettig.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

Rettig says that MiniGames played a key role in implementing
Great Game™ as they helped get everyone excited about The Game
while also providing some early wins and rewards before they
implemented their full bonus program. “We still do MiniGames,”
says Rettig, “but not as frequently because the engagement has
been so good in the financial side and the bonus program that
we haven’t had to lean too heavily on them.”

What’s Next?

Rettig says that the biggest struggle for the team is putting
ongoing financial literacy training of new employees in place.
“We are still figuring that one out,” says Rettig, “but we recently
formally documented a training program in an online learning
management system. We mix some online resources with a
workbook and in-person training to hopefully get new employees
up to speed quickly.” A similar theme applies to educating all the
employees about the coming transition to an ESOP and what it
will mean for everyone as owners in the business.

“I have implemented some of the concepts in my own
home to try to help my children understand how they can
help impact financial things at home. Turning off lights,
not wasting food, etc. I could see some of the older kids

starting to ‘get it’ when they got a chance to see where
the $$ go each month.” ~ Chad Adams, VP of Operations

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Jenner Ag

Location: Harristown, IL
2018 Revenues: $66.5 million
Employees: 86
The Critical Number™: Net Income

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

While the business, which operates three locations, has Jenner Ag, the Case IH Agriculture Application
been successful over the long haul, it was looking for Equipment Distributor for the states of Illinois
a system that would get everyone inside the company and Indiana—a consolidation of four different
rowing in the same direction—during good times and companies—has been serving its customers for
bad ones like with the recent downturn in the agriculture 54 years and counting.
economy.
“When I started, I knew nothing; there
Solution was always somebody at Jenner Ag who
had the answer and was willing to help
Embrace the various practices that make up The Great me—there still is. That’s what makes
Game of Business® (GGOB)—financial literacy training, Jenner Ag such a successful company;
huddles, MiniGames™, scoreboards, forecasting, and they create an environment where their
more—with the help of their coach, Jack O’Riley, and employees are a family by encouraging
embed them in organization’s DNA and culture. them to work together and meet goals as
a team.” ~ Jeff Rocke
Results

As a result of playing Great Game™, Jenner Ag’s financials
are more accurate and current from day to day than
ever before. That enables their associates to work with
real-time data in their huddles, which then empowers
them to forecast more effectively and efficiently. But
the impact goes beyond just the financials. “The impact
GGOB has had on Jenner Ag’s culture is so vast, it’s almost
immeasurable,” says CEO Steve Jones. “The Game has
helped develop our teams into cohesive units moving
toward common goals. It has educated all of us in the
language and world of business and owner decision-
making.”

“I am a state away from our central
location, yet The Game has provided a
way for me to always be in touch with
what is going on across the company, as
well as in my own department. It gives us
a common goal and the knowledge and
desire to achieve that goal.”
~ Bret Hine, Field Service Department

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

In 2018, Jenner Ag shifted the focus of their MiniGames from rewards and
recognition to emphasizing educational aspects. One example was a game
called “Bridge the Gap,” where the goal as to increase customer satisfaction
scores by improving follow ups with customers. Another company-wide
MiniGame the team played was called “Flush the Debt,” which focused on
increasing inventory turnaround and reducing debt by collecting receivables—
where progress was tracked, aptly enough on a toilet scoreboard.

“The Game gives us the opportunity to learn in a fun way – from each
other, as well as having the chance to teach each other too!”
~ Aaron David, Service Department

What’s Next?

Despite how far Jenner Ag has come with the Great Game, the team still sees
plenty of opportunities to get better at playing. That’s why they continue to
hold regular financial literacy bootcamps, company meetings, and huddles—
while disseminating information electronically using Yammer, email, 365 Video
and SharePoint. The company also relies on its GGOB Committee to continue
updating its Great Game playbook, which lays out the meeting schedules,
huddle agendas, and MiniGames for the company each year. The committee
also helps promote regular Financial Literacy Bootcamps for the associates,
which are intensive, one-hour deep dives into a variety of business and financial
topics—and each are taught by one or two front-line associates. The team also
covers business literacy topics and overviews in its weekly huddles as well to
continue to educate their associates with the goal of becoming a business of
businesspeople. “Constantly refreshing the committee along with game play
has allowed us to stay current and ensure that employees stay informed and
engaged in game play year after year,” says Jones. “You need to maintain that
yearn to learn.”

“I wouldn’t have nearly as many of the great relationships I
currently have at work if it weren’t for The Game. It gives us
a chance to mix it up and work with different departments to

reach our goals—and create new bonds.”
~ Matt Zimmerman, Field Service Department

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

KAAPKE Holding GmbH

Location: Emstek, Germany
2018 Revenues: $2.2 million
Employees: 35
The Critical Number™: Financial Reach
(Operating Capital Balance)

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Founder Timo Kaapke wanted to create a framework KAAPKE Holding is currently organizing its
that allowed everyone inside the business to be able to business model into two operating subsidiaries:
make decisions as independently and as decentralized as KAAPKE Strategie GmbH and KAAPKE Marketing
possible—which he hoped would result in more decisions GmbH. They are a leading brand developing
made more rapidly. company in Germany, specializing in working
for companies in the “German Mittelstand.”
Solution The company develops strategies for brand
positioning, brand-conforming design, and
Having tried numerous individual solutions, consultancy, communication campaigns.
training, and tools, Kaapke realized that his organization
needed an operating system that would create the “Problems are seen as challenges—
framework for successfully connecting different which are solved together. KAAPKE
challenges, goals and aspirations—both culturally and has become real team players. In
financially. The answer he came upon was to embrace my private life, too, I now approach
The Great Game of Business® (GGOB), which the team problems in a more relaxed and not
treated like playing the sport of soccer, where everyone so headless way. Because personally,
needed to learn the rules, follow the action, and share in I simply trust myself to do more.”
A Stake in the Outcome®. ~ Inga Bröggelhoff, Copywriter

Results

Since Kaapke introduced Great Game™ to his team,
the talks during breaks have changed noticeably. He’s
noticed that business issues are increasingly being
addressed—including among “creative” roles like
designers, copywriters, programmers. “It is nice that
these conversations are completely relaxed, rather
casual, characterized by lightness and joy,” says Kaapke.
“It develops a kind of team sport feeling—all together!”

Since they began playing the Great Game, everyone at
KAAPKE also thinks more entrepreneurially. “A winning
team spirit has emerged in our company,” says Kaapke.
“It’s true to the motto: We want to win. We call it the
“WinWinWin feeling”: Our customer wins. The customers
of our customers win. And we win... Wow!”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

In 2018, the KAAPKE team played several MiniGames: one was called “Get
Rich or Die Tryin,” the goal of which was to increase gross profit; and the
other was called “Stundenhotel,” which was designed to get associates to
more accurately record their billable time to clients. Both MiniGames had
a significant impact on the company’s financial success.

“Through scoreboard management (SBM), everyone knows the effects of their
work and recognizes situations in which new potentials must be activated for the

success of the company. The common success visible through the scoreboard
leads to a positive mood in the team. But also in stressful situations or before

challenging tasks, the team challenges and the SBM help us to solve the
situation positively and with a good feeling for everyone.”
~ Frauke Spille, Marketing Consulting

What’s Next?

To get even better at playing The Game, the next step for KAAPKE will
be to continue to focus on teaching GGOB to new employees—as well
as to fine-tune their High-Involvement Planning™ process. “We want new
employees to get into the Great Game as quickly as possible,” says Kappke.
“In Germany, by the way, we call this “scoreboard management” or SBM
for short.”

“I think that SBM has a very positive influence on KAAPKE. It creates a
completely new management culture that I don’t know from other companies.
You move away from an authoritarian Taylor-style understanding of leadership
to a cooperative leadership style that allows employees to participate. In my

opinion, the most valuable thing about scoreboard management is the
transparency it creates, which enables us to identify bottlenecks. Those
bottlenecks can be tackled independently and as a team, enabling us to lead
the company in the right direction.” ~ Sönke Tempel, Trainee Brand Consulting

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Kiolbassa

Location: San Antonio, TX
2018 Revenues: $83.2 million
Employees: 300
The Critical Number™: Gross Profit

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Back in 2014, extreme fluctuations in the prices of commodities created The company is a fast-growing craft
havoc at Kiolbassa—especially for its president, Michael Kiolbassa. manufacturer of authentic premium sausage
While he had members of his team clamoring to invest in more and food products. The company’s sausages,
facilities and operations, Kiolbassa knew that the business needed which are often described as “the best sausage
something even more important: cash. “I was also feeling the pain of I’ve ever had in my life,” are now sold across the
being the only one in the business who understood the financials,” says U.S. and Mexico.
Kiolbassa, whose grandfather started the business in 1949.
It has been a privilege and a blessing
Solution to become a Kiolbassa team member
because it has changed my life by
That crisis that led Kiolbassa to The Great Game of Business® actually knowing what the numbers
(GGOB)—which he saw as a tool that could help bring everyone on mean, from the cost to produce, to
his team together. They began by implementing financial literacy the price we sell our product. I have
training and then rolled out MiniGames™ and A Stake in the Outcome® learned that Kiolbassa is like a
program to get the firm’s team members working toward a common family. Out of all the jobs I’ve had,
goal— to increase the company’s margins. Kiolbassa has been the only one that
I can really say they care and take
Results time to explain.” ~ Elisa Morin,
Sausage Hanger
After playing GGOB for just a couple of years, the company saw
transformative results, both financially but also in strengthening
its culture of values. But in 2017, the company’s commitment to
Great Game™ wavered—as did its performance. Communications
between teams began to suffer, there was less accountability on
budget line items and their profits began to wane. Fortunately, the
team recommitted to playing The Game by reevaluating their weekly
huddles and divvying up the budget to ensure accountability and
communication across departments. Managers then began to “own”
their lines. As a whole the company became much better at forecasting
their numbers and working together to maximize efficiencies wherever
possible while improving their forecasting ability. The result: EBITDA
grew over 1,000% (not a typo) since 2017, and the company paid out its
first bonus in ten quarters.
“I think the growth in our company is dwarfed by the growth in our
people,” says Kiolbassa, “just in the way they have been exposed to
how our company makes money and generates cash. They have been
challenged to make decisions based on what they know. They have
grown intellectually and emotionally though that exposure.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

“I remember when I was applying for a job at Kiolbassa and I saw financials everywhere, my first
thought was that someone was going to get in trouble. This was so different than what I was used to.
Now that I’m a manager, it’s my role to encourage my team members to own their lines and, if they
see something that doesn’t look right, to explain it. If we have questions, other people have them, too.
I can’t imagine ever going to work somewhere where I don’t know how the business is doing.” ~ Lisa
Gutting, Manager of Sales Analysis

MiniGame™ Spotlight

One of the MiniGames the Kiolbassa team played in 2018 had a Ghostbusters theme: the
goal was to track the downtime of a labeling program on three production lines. The team
brainstormed all the possible problems which could or may occur and each problem was
identified as a “ghost”. The object was to eliminate all the “ghosts” resulting in longer run
times. The team tracked the programing problems for 90 days and found that a single
issue was causing us over $541,632 downtime each year. By identifying the key culprit, the
team then begin to find a more reliable labeling program. Another game the team played
was called, K-Force, which was designed to encourage all departments to publicly display
their goals to everyone in the company using scoreboards. They ran the game for 90 days
and as a result, each department has proudly displayed their scoreboards and uses them
for their weekly huddles. Boards are updated weekly and, in some cases, using electronic
scoreboards, are updated as often as every minute.

“I really enjoy learning the tools and methods that are used. I have started to take a
better look at my finances and really utilize the methods I have learned. At work, our

weekly huddles are looking a lot better from the understanding.”
~ Matthew Soto, Sausage Stuffer Operator

What’s Next?

Kiolbassa admits that he and his team are still learning how to play the game at a higher
and more consistent level. “Playing The Great Game of Business is a marathon, not a
sprint,” says Kiolbassa. “It’s commitment to be on a constant journey.”

“GGOB has helped me to better understand the management of money, especially as we are now
looking into buying our own home. It has been a big positive to have a company open up its financials
for all to see and understand. It makes me want to succeed because I want my company to succeed.”
~ Patrick Hull, Kitchen Lead

“The Great Game of Business has improved the way I lead my production team. I have seen a
difference in their communication and performance because they understand the numbers, expenses,
and opportunities for them in the present and future. Understanding more through GGOB, I now have

a clearer and simple understanding of the company that makes sense to me and my team.”
~ Julian Ixcaragua, Kitchen Lead

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

2019 Highlights Case Study

Challenge Lake Havasu Family Eyecare

Dr. Tania Sobchuk was looking for a way to implement a Location: Lake Havasu, AZ
new employee bonus system while also finding a way to 2018 Revenues: $2.7 million
open up the back end of the business to her employees Employees: 24
so they could understand they impact the success of the The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax (PBT)
practice.
Company Background
Solution
Provides optometric services and eye care
After getting introduced to The Great Game of Business® products including eyeglasses, specialty
(GGOB) by fellow optometrist and coach Dr. Danny Clark, eyewear, frames, and contact lenses.
Dr. Sobchuk decided to pull the trigger on playing The
Game inside her own practice beginning in October 2016. “GGOB has helped me understand
“His practice was very similar to mine at the time and I financial terms better. It has also
could see how well his team and practice benefitted from encouraged me to organize my
using this form of management,” says Sobchuk. personal finances so that I am on
track to reach my current financial
Results goals.” ~ Melissa Shelton, Certified
Paraoptometric
“Our Great Game™ journey has completely changed my
practice,” says Dr. Sobchuk. “We are now working as a
team-smarter and not harder. One impact has been on
the practice’s financials, especially over the past year
when the team really “got it.” “Our PBT has consistently
increased and our cash flow has improved tremendously,”
she says, noting that the team also hit its full bonus for
the year, which earned them a three-day trip to Sedona.
At the same time, she admits that while she expected
to see improvement in areas like cash flow, the fact that
GGOB totally changed the culture within the practice was
an unexpected bonus. Playing The Game has created
much more of a team environment where everyone
works together to achieve a single goal. “Our entire team
is happy and every day we have patients comment on
how amazing we are as a team and how everyone always
has a smile on their face,” says Dr. Sobchuk.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The practice is made up of four departments—Clinic, Optical, Business
Office, and Front Office—and each of them have run MiniGames of their
own. In the Clinic department, for example, they played a game focused
on OPTOS %—an optional retinal photo that costs patients extra money.
That rate stood at 65% in 2016, but thanks to the MiniGame, they’ve
boosted it to 95% in 2019. The optical department has been particularly
successful running MiniGames—and winning them—as their success rate
has been more than 90% in the MiniGames they’ve played even when
they’ve had big stretch goals.

“GGOB is game changer! My first meeting was interesting, and I thought why
would anyone expose their business like this? My second meeting I was
starting to catch on and see that everyone was engaged and plays an

important role in their position. We just went over second quarter, not quite
finalized yet, yet very good! It was awesome seeing everyone get excited and

knowing they played a strong role in that success!” ~ Debra Ashe, Optician

What’s Next?

In the next year, Dr. Sobchuk would like to see the team get better at
forecasting further out into the future—going beyond monthly and even
quarterly projections and thinking in terms of the total impact for the
year and beyond. She’s also excited to begin involving more of the team
in their strategic goal setting through the High-Involvement Planning™
planning process. “I want to see what thoughts and insights they have on
where they see us going into the future and how our profits are going to
help fuel us to get there,” says Dr. Sobchuk.

“GGOB has impacted me by making me realize how we allocate
our professional and product fees monthly and throughout the

year. It has also allowed me to learn how to spend appropriately.
In addition, it has made me much more aware of how to budge-

my personal finances at home.”
~ Ursula Gresham, Certified Optician

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Laser Light Technologies

Location: Hermann, MO
2018 Revenues: $7.4 million
Employees: 33
The Critical Number™: Net income / EBITDA

2019 Highlights

Challenge

Find a way to empower employees and build accountability

among the team without micromanaging.

Solution Company Background

Implement financial literacy training and regular huddles with Laser Light Technologies provides high-tech
the help of their coach, Jack O’Riley, to establish a cadence of laser-based contract manufacturing, laser
communication and ongoing education. systems, and engineering services that includes
solutions ranging from micro drilling holes
Results in plastic for industrial printers to precision
fabrication of life-saving medical devices.
Playing The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) has improved the team’s
financial awareness and helped employees gain a better understanding “Following the GGOB methodology had
of how their business makes money and generates cash—which has significant impacts on my personal life.
been especially valuable this past year as the company was hit hard The financial literacy training and score
by tariffs and trade disputes. The positive aspect, however, was that board interaction helped me manage
the company was able to make hard decisions quickly thanks to the my own personal finances better. I think
financial acumen brought by playing Great Game™. “Our team is twice before making an investment and
handling things exceptionally well despite the difficult situation,” says made considerable changes in my
owner and CEO Frank Hannan. “We continue to operate in the black overall spending habits. I was able to
and not lose money. We’re holding our own, which is something I pay off my student loan earlier than I
attribute to playing the Great Game.” anticipated by managing and
prioritizing my finances better from the
By improving the team’s financial literacy, employees are taking tips I learned from the GGOB
accountability in terms of decreasing costs where money can be methodology.” ~ Kannan Suresh Kumar,
saved. For example, where engineers in the past might have asked to Quality Manager
purchase a new piece of equipment, they now run the numbers first to
understand how making that purchase might generate new revenue or
save money through higher efficiencies. “Teaching financial literacy is
extremely powerful and it generates massive benefits,” says Hannan.
“But the real power of the Great Game is the value of creating a culture
where people feel empowered and can take control of their destiny.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The team played about four MiniGames per year. Each quarter, they
roll out a new MiniGame aimed at different areas, like boosting morale,
increasing efficiency, or improving their critical number. Hannan
would also like to find new ways for the team to think outside the box
and come up with new MiniGame concepts as well.

“GGOB has single handedly changed the entire culture of our business. It has
created a transparency throughout that I think couldn’t hardly be matched. It

develops trust and a feeling of togetherness to move the business to our
common goal which is to be successful. For me professionally it has helped in
generating more accountability when my department requires significant capital

for both planned and unplanned expenses. It has also been key in helping
develop a more robust yearly budgeting system.”
~ Jared Cotton, Senior Laser Technician

What’s Next?

In the next year, Hannan sees plenty of opportunities for his team to
improve how they conduct their huddles—he wants to find a way to
make them to go beyond the routine and become more engaging and
fun—as well as to continue to improve how they approach strategic
planning through their HIP process. One outcome of those processes
is a goal for the company to diversify in the coming year as a way
to help soften the blows of economic headwinds like they’ve been
experiencing this year.

“At Laser Light, management encourages employees to openly
exchange ideas within the organization. I’ve experienced firsthand

that open communication can create a more united team and an
overall positive work environment. Since I’ve started working for a
company that practices open-book management, I’ve personally felt
more empowered to speak up insituations that I may not have before.”

~ Kimberly Graham, Marketing Strategist and Project Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Malco

Location: Annandale, Minnesota

Employees: 165

The Critical Number™: Net Operating Profit

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

While the company had a strong foundation in top-down Malco, which started in 1950 and is now 100%
planning, they wanted to find a way to evolve into a employee owned, manufactures high-quality,
bottom-up approach. specialty hand tools that help construction
contractors, including professionals who service
Solution heating and air conditioners, do their job better.

Implement The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) “I think that communication between upper
inside the organization, including embracing financial management and associates has improved.
projections, weekly management and company huddles, We are able to see the financial statements
financial literacy training for all associates, and a critical and they are explained to us. We can see
number and scoreboards. the direction the company is headed. I feel
that company morale has also improved.
Results The Great Game of Business has shown us
all, that no matter what position we hold
Through MiniGames™, financial literacy, and in the company, we can impact the bottom
accountabilities at all levels, efficiencies and lead times line. Coming to Malco Products was one of
have improved at Malco. Sales have increased to record the best decisions I have made.”
levels as have net operating profits. Since Malco first ~ Amy Carlson, Accounting Payroll Clerk
implemented GGOB, associates have collectively received
over $1.7 million in company incentive bonus payments—
which has helped engage associates while giving them
a greater stake in the performance of the company.
“The GGOB, especially the financial literacy training and
sharing the numbers, helped everyone feel and act more
like a business owner,” says Mardon Quandt, President
and COO.
“Malco is a planning Company and GGOB is such
a great compliment to that process. Being 100%
owned, the financial literacy training, the
MiniGames, and the weekly company huddle
are all ways to help associates to be engaged
and keep them informed. We learn all the ways
that individually we can help Malco succeed and
to enjoy in that success. The GGOB is a win for
Malco and for associates.” ~ Carla Hinnenkamp,
Senior Accountant

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

MiniGames have evolved from management driven improvements to
more grass roots department level problem solving, many of which have
resulted in a direct line of sight to the net operating profit line. MiniGames
are announced at the company’s weekly huddles, where the participating
team members give a presentation detailing their achievements.

“I think when employees think, act and feel like owners… everyone wins.”
~ Dave Rentschler, Quality Assurance Inspector

What’s Next?

The Malco team, inspired by the diversification efforts of SRC, made the
strategic move to acquire a new facility—and old Rubbermaid factory—
in the town of DeWitt, Nebraska. Not only did the new plant give them
capabilities they didn’t have in their existing facility in Minnesota—such as
forging and heavy manufacturing—they saw a chance to reintroduce the
locking pliers that had been made in that facility for generations. “This was
the largest and most ambitious expansion of the company in its history,”
says Quandt, who adds that the new plant was acquired debt-free. But to
make the expansion work culturally, Malco’s management team realized
they needed buy in from all of their employee owners. So, moving into
2019, the company has set a Critical Number to incent employee owners
from Minnesota to travel to Nebraska (also vice versa) and spend time
in the other location as a way to spread their knowledge and expertise.
The new Critical Number is to get 70% of associates to work one week
at the other Malco location to learn and assist in establishing the new
facility. “The goal is to get them to feel like owners of that plant as well,”
says Quandt. “It’s exciting to hear the feedback from the people who have
already spent time there.”

“The GGOB has brought change to Malco by having everyone getting the same
information. In our huddles, questions get answered and we learn about the other
areas of the business. If we have issues everyone is aware of it immediately, where
before we only heard about things quarterly. The MiniGames have also benefitted
Malco. It has made things more efficient and saved time, which saves money. It also

makes associates aware that little changes make a big impact.”
~ Sarah Zipoy, Machine Tool/CNC Operator

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Peterson Trucks

Location: San Leandro, California
2018 Revenues: $116 million
Employees: 146
The Critical Number™: Market Share

2019 Highlights

Challenge

The business was struggling with both its profitability
and customer satisfaction. As a result, employees weren’t
engaged in their jobs.

Solution Company Background

Rally around transparency, communicate through Peterson Trucks International (PTI), which
dynamic huddles, and teach business and financial started in 2012, is now the Bay Area’s official
literacy as a way to get employees engaged in running International Trucks Dealer. The business offers
their business. a full service lease and rental fleet, both new and
used truck sales, highly trained technicians, an
Results unmatched parts inventory, and state-of-the-art
repair shops at multiple locations.
The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) couldn’t have
come at a better time for PTI back in 2014. The business “The GGOB has helped the Sales Department
went from losing millions of dollars to paying it all back by empowering us to understand how we win
and earning their very first dollar of profit in October of the game by which we are measured. We
2017. It’s the Critical Number the company had from the have learned that our attention to the financial
start of playing Great Game™. details impacts the company. In addition, we
regularly review the numbers and they are on
“The continued growth and success of our company display at all times. This has fostered a culture
and our people are what keep us in The Game,” says of trust within the department and the entire
Tom Bagwell, PTI’s Executive Vice President. “We are company. We know GGOB works because we
the phoenix who rose from the ashes in continuous see the results.” ~Russ Thielen, General Sales
pursuit of flourishing. The Great Game of Business is our Manager
mode of transportation and are certain that we wouldn’t
be a business had we not implemented open-book
management. Being able to speak to one another in a
common language of business is what has changed our
culture at PTI and turned us into a winning team.” Case in
point: For the second year in a row, Peterson Trucks has
won the Navistar Presidential Award for being one of the
top 15 dealerships in the country.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

“MiniGames are the breeding ground for learning and engagement,
especially for our front-line employees,” says Bagwell. The most
successful games the team has played are not those that produce
prizes, but the ones that have taught their employees about the
business. The team struggled to get their technicians to understand
Profit After Direct Expenses (PADE) and how long into the month
it took before they began to actually turn a profit. “It’s the most
successful MiniGame that we’ve played because we finally found a
way to educate our employees in a way that made sense to them,”
says Bagwell. “It got us to the point of being able to create and play
financial games.”

“The truth is I never wanted to be part of operations—part of “the grind”—a person that
scrambled at the end of each month to make numbers. But GGOB made me want to get my
hands dirty and be one of the people who made a difference day in and day out. I get to be
one of the people who makes a difference, and this gives me the meaning and purpose I’ve
been searching for in my career.” ~ Alex Vazquez Truck Finance & Operations Accounting

Manager

What’s Next?

PTI has done such a fantastic job turning around its business that it was
given the opportunity to purchase another dealership in Oregon—
which grew the company from four stores to nine overnight, with
160 new employees. “This dealership could not pay its bills and these
employees were about to have no job and no income to support their
families,” says Bagwell. “One of our first objectives was to pick these
people back up and let them know that that’s not the way Peterson
does business. We take care of our employees and now we will take
care of them. All managers received The Great Game of Business
book before they even started their first day on the job.” Bagwell
already has plans to launch the new team’s first MiniGame based on
the same successful PADE model to help get the new team rolling
with their own financial literacy training.

“The GGOB is, in my opinion, the best way to run a business. The organization is utilizing
the collective intelligence of the many people in it. People want to be associated with a
TEAM that wins. When the inputs of those individuals are recognized and implemented,
successful improvement occurs. The overall group is willing to recognize areas of
needed improvement, implement appropriate changes, and work to see the new
procedures succeed. People will support changes they are involved in setting up.”
~ Curtis Staton, General Manager, Product Support

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

2019 Highlights Case Study

Challenge Rail Trail Flat Bread Co.

While the company experienced some early success and Location: Hudson, MA
rapid growth, the founding partners quickly realized that 2018 Revenues: $4.4 million
if they wanted to scale, they needed a system that could Employees: 65
better engage their employees in running the operation. The Critical Number™: Revenue

Solution Company Background

After learning about The Great Game of Business® Built up by a team of five partners on December
(GGOB) from Rethink Restaurant Group, a consultancy, 12, 2012, Rail Trail began as a family friendly
the partners applied for a state-funded grant to begin restaurant that serves flatbread pizza and other
implementing a vigorous financial literacy program— American classic dishes. The company has more
conducted in both English and Spanish—to educate their recently expanded by opening a micro-creamery
employees about how the business makes money and and a speakeasy-style bar.
generates cash.
“OBM for me has really established a
Results great management system for us. It has
developed myself and the team into
Thanks to opening up the business, Rail Trail has seen forward and upward thinking
impressive financial results, which include a 30% increase individuals. OBM has created a
in revenue coupled with a 30% reduction in cost of goods language for our company that I
sold. Perhaps more importantly, playing Great Game™ believe is groundbreaking. It’s a truly
has impacted its community in many ways. “Hudson is remarkable thing to be part of.”
a blue-collar area and previously did not attract much ~ Thomas Kepner, Executive Chef
younger talent,” says Jason Kleinerman, one of the
founding partners. “The Great Game has helped our
team open up possibilities of a strong workforce that has
control over their own financial destiny. We found that
opening our books and leading our team with education,
financial literacy classes, and a game culture helped to
solidify our team and business in our downtown. We are
fostering a culture of leaders in order to be a place that
innovates and leads.”
“What open-book management means for me overall is empowering people both
personally and professionally through financial literacy. But it goes far beyond that. It
means reducing the divide between the front of the house and back of house by
creating a ‘one team’ mentality. It means giving people a stake in the performance of
the business that we are all building together. It means harnessing the brainpower
of 100 people instead of just a few at the top of the organization. In short, it means a
better way of doing business.” ~ Luke Doherty Monroe, Bar Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The Rail Trail team has found great success in playing MiniGames built
around hiring, cost of goods, and guest check averages. With one game,
the team increased sales 2%, and in another, they significantly reduced
waste in a trackable way.

“Authenticity! Being transparent about our business, the trends, the wins,
and the struggles creates a feeling of connectedness. I relish the

resulting “little moments” when a non-manager offers a business thought,
such as saying: “Shouldn’t we make a special with these so that it doesn’t

go to waste?” Those little wins are big emotional wins for me.” ~ Jeff
Senechal, General Manager

What’s Next?

While the initial focus for the Great Game was on the original restaurant,
Kleinerman says the team plans to continue rolling out a similar plan
inside their sister establishments: The New City Microcreamery, which
sells gourmet ice cream, and Less Than Greater Than, the speakeasy
which has expanded to include an event room and a restaurant. The
continued rollout of GGOB includes augmenting the bilingual financial
literacy programs that will continue to empower and engage the entire
team. “Continuous improvement is part of our culture,” says Kleinerman.
“We like to see what’s out there, analyze it, and then improve it.”

“To me, open-book management is a way to engage, educate, and
empower all employees of the business to not only be aware of the
financials of the business, but also make meaningful changes to impact
performance. By engaging all employees by providing incentives, OBM
creates an incredible framework for teamwork and encourages the

sharing of ideas.” ~ Kevin Popovich, Sous Chef

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Red Caffeine

Location: Lombard, IL
2018 Revenues: $2.2 million
Employees: 23
The Critical Number™: Net Profit Before Tax

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

When President and CEO, Kathy Steele, split from her former Red Caffeine is a growth consultancy that uses
business partner, the business was in dire straits. She was strategy, branding, technology, and marketing
looking for a different way to run her new company by embracing to fuel meaningful impact for mid-market and
transparency and through a high-involvement culture. enterprise organizations.

Solution “After having zero financial transparency
in my last job, learning that Red Caffeine
Steele learned about The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) is open-book and plays GGOB was a
through her involvement in the Small Giants Community. After a huge selling point in deciding to join the
visit to Springfield, MO, she decided to begin playing The Game team. Best decision I ever made!
inside her business. After a false start trying to self-implement, Information is power and now I am in
she made the move to hire her coach, Kevin Walter, and playing control to help drive our company’s
Great Game® in full in 2018. future & profitability. GGOB makes us
smarter employees, which in turn drives
Results a better experience for our clients.”
~ Amy Anderson, Director of Client
While the company struggled in 2018 due to a slump in sales, Services
they did adjust their Game play by changing their Critical Number
to something that everyone on the team could see how they
could impact—which opened up conversations across the team
about ways they could overcome their slow sales. “Playing the
Great Game got everyone involved in the financial decisions
we were making and gave the team a sense of ownership and
understanding of why those decisions had to be made,” says
Steele. “There is a much greater sense of understanding and
accountability today. A lot of lightbulbs have gone on since we
began playing The Game.” To that point, by having the team own
expense lines on the P&L, they’ve been able to actually uncover
thousands of dollars of revenue from clients they might have
otherwise missed out on.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

The team has been slow to implement many MiniGames to date, but they
have had success with a few including one with a “Candyland” theme
designed to get team members to enroll in GGOB’s e-learning course,
with food-related prizes as a tasty incentive. Another MiniGame had a
baseball theme with a goal to encourage team members to track their
time on a more accurate and timelier basis—with a food truck serving
ballpark fare as a prize for winning the game.

“To me, The Great Game of Business has provided the tools needed to educate our team on
the company financials. By opening the books, our team has started to understand how their
individual contributions really do affect the bottom line, and in doing so has begun to create
change. GGOB has also made it easier for me to show the team the importance of financial

decisions leadership has made by including them in these decisions. By having team
members own expense lines, we have been able to uncover some cost savings on unused
software, and generate revenue from un-billed client tools. The Great Game of Business
aligns perfectly with one of our Core Values - We play to win and we win together. That is
what GGOB is all about - winning as a team.”~ Heather Carbray, Director of Finance and

Administration

What’s Next?

While Steele admits that their business hasn’t had optimal financial success
in their first year of playing The Game, they have learned to persevere, to
look to data to help drive decisions, and to celebrate the small wins that
will ultimately lead to large ones. Up next, she’d like the team to get more
involved in setting their strategic direction through the High-Involvement
Planning™ (HIP) process and to find ways to use MiniGames to make
more subtle shifts in behaviors. “Having the entire team understand the
financial aspect of the business is already dividends,” she says, “as we
look to rebuild who we are and where we want the future of the company
to be.”

“I’ve never worked at a company before that’s truly been transparent about the financials.
They’ve always been ‘someone else’s job,’ so while I focused on what I needed to do, it was
easy to forget that my actions had an impact on the company’s dollars and cents. With Red
Caffeine playing GGOB, every day I’m given the opportunity to make sure what I’m working
on is lining up with our financial goals. Having a weekly huddle to see how our revenue is
comparing to cost of goods, celebrating financial victories, and explaining why we’re doing
a certain activity because of its bottom line impact makes me feel like I truly have a stake in

how our business is being run vs. just being another cog in a machine.”
~ Lisa Behning, Account Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

SRC of Lexington

Location: Lexington, KY
2018 Revenues: $45.3 million
Employees: 180
The Critical Number™: Sales

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

SRC of Lexington was originally a division of Komatsu, until it was The company works with original equipment
slated for shut down back in 2009. After SRC purchased the factory, manufacturers (OEMs) to offer quality
saving more than 60 jobs as a result, the team had to learn to run their remanufactured products for heavy equipment
business on their own. That also meant finding a way to earn a profit. that ranges from engines, powertrain
components, and hydraulics.
Solution
“Knowing how GGOB works is a big part of our
Embrace The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) leadership system as a company. It’s why we exist. An example of what
way to learn to think and act like owners of their business to help turn kind of impact it can have is with every employee
around the business. knowing the Critical Number for that year, that is
everyone’s goal to achieve as a team. No matter
Results what level you’re at on the pay scale you have a
stake in the outcome. When things are good and
“SRC of Lexington was a marginal business at best when SRC purchased we’re thriving we all know why. When things are
us from Komatsu in 2009,” says Rob Shear, SRC of Lexington’s General down everyone knows why that is and what needs
Manager who also ran the plant under Komatsu. “The Great Game of to be done to get back on track. With open-book
Business has changed us for the better. There is truly an ownership financials employees know they can make a
culture here that didn’t exist when SRC purchased the company almost difference, they can see it when their department
ten years ago. When we were owned by Komatsu, employees expected comes together and achieves monthly sales goals,
the company to take care of them and didn’t have any interest whether they see that directly in the bottom line. It’s not
the company was competitive or financially successful, as long as they just coming to work and doing your 10- or 12-hour
kept their jobs.” shift and going home, you felt like you actually
Now, says Shear, the implementation of High-Involvement Planning™ helped, and the proof is right there for everyone to
has been the biggest driver of financial success since they began see.” ~ Dalton Dunn, Hydraulics Department
playing Great Game™. He says his team has now developed a coherent
strategy, a long-term financial plan, objectives to achieve that plan,
and a communication process to get everyone bought into the plan.
“Employees at every level understand through our communication of
the plan how what they do ties into our long-term success,” he says.
“We tie our Critical Number into the long-term plan and communicate
it early and often to employees each year. This planning and
communication loop has helped us to grow the business into areas
that will allow us to continue to improve profitability as we execute on
our long-term plan and core purpose—which is to give our employee
owners a better life.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com


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