Inc. Article On Zappos Culture

Great overview article on Zappos and some of the very cool things they do to help continuously build and develop their culture, which is the center of their success. Unlike most corporate leaders who create their company values in an offsite with a small group of people and then rarely do anything with them, Zappos asked everyone for input on their values, compiled them, and then asked every employee to write stories about each value and published them, unedited, in a book. He does this every year, and gives the book to customers, visitors, and anyone he can as a way of adding to the credibility of the values.

Managers are also expected to socialize with employees 10-20% of their time as a way of building up the fun factor and, I assume, reducing the ambivalence associated with most hierarchical situations. They have no script for customer service, instead training their employees for two weeks on company values and history and then expecting their employees to use creativity and heart to delight customers. Other competitors are now offering free overnight shipping and even lower prices, but Zappos continues to do well largely because of the tremendous customer service and dedication.

How would your business improve if you something close to this level of clarity on company mission, vision, and values from your employees, customers, and partners?