The Higher Laws of Business

Next week I’ll be joining business leaders from all over the world at the 20th Annual Gathering of Games Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

I first heard about Jack Stack and The Great Game of Business at the annual Small Giants conference in 2011. The Great Game of Business is all about Open Book Management (OBM) and the  idea that OBM creates an environment in which people can continuously learn and grow.

In preparation for the event I’ve been going through some reading material and came across what Jack and his team describe as:

The Higher Laws of Business

1. You get what you give.
2. It’s easy to stop one guy, but it’s pretty hard to stop 100.
3. What goes around comes around.
4. You gotta do what you gotta do.
5. You gotta wanna.
6. You can sometimes fool the fans, but you can never fool the players.
7. When you raise the bottom, the top rises.
8. When people set their own targets, they usually hit them.
9. If nobody pays attention, people stop caring.
10. As they say in Missouri: Shit rolls downhill. By which they mean change begins at the top.

Although each of the Higher Laws are simple and self explanatory, they hold a great deal of wisdom

A number of these are particularly relevant for the  team I am working with at present. Change is never easy, it has to be begin at the top, we need to raise the bottom, you can’t fool the players and You Gotta Wanna!

We’re looking forward to working on our challenges with other leaders at the Annual Gathering of the Games next week.