Rather than watch his colleagues lose their manufacturing jobs at International Harvester during the bleakest days of the 1980s, Stack came up with a crazy idea: Why not lead a worker buyout of his division of the company? Stack vowed that if given the chance, he’d create a transparent workplace where the financials were not only open to inspection, but a mandatory part of employee training.

It took years for the new company, SRC Holdings, to get on its feet but by creating a strong culture around his model of Open-Book Management, Stack was able to create a sustainable business. His employees understand, and are invested in, helping make the company as profitable as possible. His technique is one that many Evergreen business leaders will want to embrace.