Da mesma forma que existe o conceito de open source, ou código aberto, para desenvolvimento e distribuição de software em conjunto com seu código fonte, existe um conceito em administração chamado de open-book management.

O conceito é simples: os relatórios financeiros da empresa devem ficar abertos para todos os funcionários para que sirvam de insumo para tomadas de decisão mais conscientes em seu dia a dia.

As regras básicas são:

• Give employees training to understand the financial information
• Give employees all relevant financial information
• Give employees responsibility for the numbers under their control
• Give employees a financial stake in how the company performs

Obviamente não dá para praticar open-book management de uma hora para outra, mas acho que esse conceito faz bastante sentido para qualquer empresa.

Quem quiser ler mais sobre o assunto:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-book_management
http://www.greatgame.com/

Mais algumas informações:

In its simplest form, Open-Book Management is a way of running a company that gets everyone focused on helping the business be successful. Employee goals and accountabilities are tied directly to the success of the company. It teaches all employees what is critical to success and how they can make a difference – both individually and as part of a team. Employees know and understand how they each contribute to the financial performance of the company, in such a way that they truly understand how the business works.

The Great Game draws from the successes and failures of thousands of open-book management practitioners to show how any company can teach its employees:

• How to think and act like owners
• How to promote continuous learning at every level of the organization
• How to fire up employees’ competitive juices
• How to broaden the concept of leadership
• How to delegate responsibility for the business
• How to drive innovation and build value in the business
• How to improve financial results for the company and themselves

Eu gosto bastante desse conceito e o pratico sempre. É muito mais fácil fazer qualquer coisa quando se sabe os motivos pelas quais se está fazendo essa coisa, e o conceito de open-book management deixa explícito esses motivos.

Veja também outros textos sobre liderança.