A few months back I received an advance copy of Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. I try to only read books that come highly recommended by someone I trust or written by individuals I respect in the business world. There are just too many books being written to try and wade through the junk to find the gold. Delivering Happiness is gold. I have been a fan of the Zappos.com phenomenal growth and customer service but most of all I have been captivated by the company culture that has evolved there under Tony’s leadership since 1999. People that work for Tony are happy. They are constantly improving their expertise as well as developing personal and professional goals.

During my visit to the Zappos headquarters in January, I was continually wondering what makes this place tick. In Delivering Happiness Tony lays out both his own professional adventure from the time he sold his first news letter “The Gobler” in middle school (which was a miserable failure), to describing what elements lead to the Zappos success today. What really stood out to me in the book was Tony’s transparency, his willingness to share both his mistakes and achievements. From the disclaimer early on that he is not a gifted writer and his apology to his High School English teacher for the grammar errors, Tony sets the tone of the book at the outset as an honest story of entrepreneurial adventure and a lifetime pursuit of the science of happiness. Just as Dan Pink argues in Drive: the Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, Tony states that the true ingredients to a company’s success are mutual respect and strong core values.

Later this week I’ll be offering a full video highlight of the book with Chris Nordyke. For now though, go out and grab a copy of Delivering Happiness. It will not disappoint.

On Friday a group of friends congregated to spend some time in our small downtown. Our mission was simple. We planned to take and upload as many pictures of and about local businesses as we possibly could. What surprised me was the response we received. Many shop employees didn’t know what to do with us. As if working from a script, many of them just looked more worried than anything, having a handful of people wanting to take pictures of their store for free promotion. One store though gave us an incredible experience. Even though they were closing, Brett of City Barber Shop welcomed us in and even agreed to a free youtube video while he gave a mohawk cut. Brett told us about the history of the shop as the clippers hummed and my friend Loyan got his mohawk. The whole group was thrilled as he went on about the shop he loved. We even learned they have a vintage barber chair that once was used on the Vegas Strip. Brett had no script. He readily lapped up the free publicity. It was like watching a skilled improv artist.

Do we have set ideas of how to get our word out? Do we resist new ways because we are afraid of them?

The businesses and connections in my network throughout the country are thrilled if you share their link, take a picture, leave a review (good or bad). They see it as free and sharable promotion. How would you or your employees react if given the same opportunity?

We are all enjoying changing workplaces. Some of you are working from home a few days a week.  You may even bring your dog to work. Thanks for the hair by the way. (just kidding, I love dogs). We all are benefiting from the changes in the workplace. Bob Cratchit would be envious.

The man with the boots at zappos

Why is it then that some leaders are openly embracing these changes behind office doors but try to portray a different culture to the outside world.  They go to length to hide behind a facade of old school professionalism. They want the outside world, including clients and customers, to think that everything is ties and cubicles all around.  This is a result of fear.  What if our customers think we are slacking off?  What if any sign of staff enjoying their work comes across as lackadaisical?  Fear is driving survival. I stumbled upon one of my new favorite quotes today re-reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin.  “Survival and success are not the same thing.”

So what? As long as you are the best in your industry and your services are remarkable, none of it matters.  Loosen up. Show some skin (or boots). You might be surprised.  You might even get lucky and blow your competitors away.