Doing Is Believing: Get Your D.I.B.s on Business Acumen!

How can experiential learning highlight the key components of business acumen?

How should business acumen be understood by managers?

How can they enhance their skills and achieve better results for the company?

Two weeks ago, I ran an Income|Outcome business competition, and one team stood out strongly—not just for having the highest retained earnings at the end of the simulation, but also for having the strongest future prospects.

I asked a member of that team:

What caused your success?

He offered an answer that talked about cash flow and team work which was true but incomplete. What he didn’t mention was that in addition to well-managed cash flow and good teamwork, his team had been the only one (despite my near pleading!) to spend money on pure information—essentially, market research.

They invested in learning about a previously undisclosed new product that was later announced for the industry in which all teams were competing.

That one decision led to:
✔ A shift in production from the old to the new product
✔ Being first to market
✔ Building an insurmountable lead in a growing market

Meanwhile, their competitors were stuck fighting over a shrinking market.

Cash Flow + Market Research = Success

But the team member was still correct—cash flow management made all the difference.

• Some teams could have bought the market research but chose not to.
• Others wanted to buy it but couldn’t afford it.
• All teams were experiencing financial difficulties and cash flow crises.

This was the only team that could both afford the cash and was willing to gamble on the value of new information in their industry.

Speed & Accuracy of Information: The Competitive Advantage

I believe that the greatest competitive advantage today lies in the speed and accuracy of the flow of information.

And in business, information must be in the language of finance.

But here’s the flipside—do people truly understand the big picture of the information flows they handle and the decisions they make?

This team’s success—"Cash flow and teamwork" + "Market research"—illustrates how information, analysis, and teamwork drive business acumen and financial success.

How Income|Outcome Builds Business Acumen

In our Income|Outcome workshops, we teach all these components:

• The language of finance
• Forms of planning and analysis
• The value of information
• The necessity of teamwork

And we do it through a highly engaging team competition that requires a holistic understanding of running the different departments of a company.

Want to Build Business Acumen? Let’s Talk!

If you want to get your D.I.B.s on business acumen, visit us at ASTD!

📍 We’re at Booth 245 in the Expo and hanging out in the Global Village.

We’d love to hear about your training needs!

Or, contact us today to bring business acumen training to your organization.

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