I was at Zappos HQ today delivering an advance copy of The Zappos Experience book to Tony Hsieh and colleagues (the book will hit bookstores by Oct 15th). Honestly, I was minding my own business when I became a casualty of an errant foam dart flying across the Zappos Insights work area. You have to understand that I was so ill equipped for battle that I had to recycle the weapon that struck me to actually initiate a counter attack.
As the laughter subsided, I asked myself how I got so involved in the type of game I might have played as a child or with my children. How can anything get done with all this falderal? Having worked closely with Zappos staff for years now, I can tell you that work made fun gets done and the passion and drive of Zappos employees are second to none.
Zappos leadership has challenged the notion of work/life balance and in it’s place focused on work/life integration. Why do we need to leave work to come alive? Next time I visit Zappos I will be well-armed with multiple forms of foam weaponry and I’ll also expect to have a massively enjoyable productive day as I did today!
Are you having fun yet? If not, your customers probably aren’t either!
