Get inspired!

You hear a lot about Zappos.com — customers love their shoes and service, they have an interesting corporate culture, oh yeah, and they have a billion dollars in sales — they must be doing something right.

I first heard about Zappos, a few years ago, from a friend who loved shopping on their site. I personally don’t have the nerve to buy shoes online, but she was very pleased with her purchases — and the ability to return them easily if they didn’t work out.

Last year, Bill Taylor wrote about the company in his blog:

Every so often, though, I spend time with a company that is so original in its strategy, so determined in its execution, and so transparent in its thinking, that it makes my head spin. Zappos is one of those companies.

Bill Taylor wrote Mavericks at Work: Why the most original minds in business win, with Polly LaBarre, so I expect it must take a lot for his head to spin!

One of the things Bill mentioned was the fact that Zappos will offer new employees $1,000 to quit, after they have been with the company for only 1 week. The theory behind “the offer” is that if you take them up on it, you aren’t the right fit for the organization, so it is better that you go sooner rather than later. Interesting strategy — not one every company could adopt but apparently it’s working well for them.

More recently, I read about Zappos on the Church of the Customer blog where Ben McConnell wrote about the company's values.

Many companies create a vision, mission statement and corporate values. Most communicate them to their employees and some post them publicly on their website. Zappos does this and more — the “About Us” section of Zappos.com is extensive. In addition to the usual company history and executive profiles, it features descriptions (with photos) of almost 20 different teams at Zappos, links to a collection of blogs and detailed explanations of the company’s core values. Here they are, with links to each description:

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

If you want to know even more about the inside of the company, you can buy a copy of their Culture Book, but be prepared — it’s 479 pages long!

So why should we care?
While it is not necessary — or appropriate — to copy other companies, it is useful to learn about what other organizations are doing. Inspiration can come from unexpected sources —sometimes a completely unrelated business will help you see things differently for your company.

The key is to be open to new ideas — you never know what will trigger a bright idea.