Zappos: This Company Is Awesome! Values Example...

I think Zappos is a fantastic company and I am absolutely intrigued by their values and how they truly use it to run the company. How many of us have had the bland corporate values exercise that barely got used and / or could be swapped with another company and no one would know? It's a total waste because truly credible, authentic values come from the people themselves on how they live their lives personally (inside and outside of work). When your values are that clear to people, then hiring and developing individuals is much easier and growth becomes that much more sustainable. If I've learned anything from my years at Netscape and EA it's that growth can be your worst enemy. You end up hiring people who are just "ok", you lose balance around key practices, and you can end up taking your eyes off the thing that made you successful in the first place.

Here are their values:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Check out their website and the employee created videos to see how organizations can help make the values feel real and authentic. The most important thing with values is going the next level down and examining how corporate practices align with your values. This can't be some silly exercise - it needs be to ongoing, owned by everyone in the company, but especially endorsed by the senior staff and employee values advocates (the folks people look to for guidance either because of who they are, their time with the organization, etc).