What are the big reasons people might have for not adopting open-book?
I see Zingerman’s initially resisted the “huddles” because they didn’t want to add another meeting to the staff schedule. Baker: Keep in mind the huddles are voluntary. Sometimes in the beginning nobody comes to the huddle but the management. You can make a line item on the whiteboard for that. If attendance is poor or dropping in a huddle, you can make a line for huddle attendance and somebody will be responsible to recruit people to come to the huddle. It’s one way for people to demonstrate leadership. People involved with it are much more engaged. They get to participate in decisions about weekly business matters. They can also put into place things they’ve decided and see results week to week, and that’s pretty rewarding. Even though open-book appears to bring benefits, the practice brings some risks. If everybody sees the numbers and things aren’t going well, morale can decline. It also can create friction between separate parts of the business. Baker: It can get people down, but
