is called The Great Game of
Business. While it focuses on
open book management,
a key tenet is that everyone
needs to know how to keep
score if they are going to win
the game. Play is a metaphor
for knowing the rules (your
corporate mission, values
and strategy), knowing how
to keep score and seeing
the game as a fun challenge
rather than a boring directive.
You make an interesting
comment in your book: “You
first emulate to learn, then
innovate to earn.” What does
this mean for a pastor or
businessman?
Mark: The ultimate role model
for those of us who are
believers is Christ. Ephesians
5 says we are to be “imitators
of God” and to walk and love
and live as Christ did. In any
job or craft or skill, we learn
first by emulating the master.
In Christianity, we emulate
the Master. But in business
we need to go beyond
emulation or imitation and
add our own signature to our
work, to create value and be
of larger service. That’s the
enjoyable part of innovation:
replacing money with
imagination and thinking of
better ways to create value
24 Solutions
and to serve.
What if innovation is not
encouraged among staff at
a particular job. What can be
done to influence changes
that allow for innovation?
Mark: I’m a big proponent
of flying under the radar.
Try things. If they don’t
work, keep quiet. If they do
work, tell everyone. In other
words, if innovation isn’t
encouraged, do it anyway.
Try new things. Limit your
risks, of course, but when
something works, share
the idea with others. Even
unenlightened management
will appreciate successful
innovation and improvement,
especially if you didn’t spent
a lot to accomplish it.
Here’s a comment that really
caught our attention: “You
can only break the rules if
you know what the rules are.”
Typically rules are seen as
guidelines to be observed,
not broken. Can you give us a
positive example of knowing
a rule and then breaking it?
Mark: Modernism, the art
movement, didn’t begin
until the mid 1800’s to 1900
(depending who you ask).
The modernists took the
art rules of the day, and