Guaranteed Success—But Few Do It
by Miki SaxonYes, it’s another post about my favorite company. Why do I write so much about Zappos?
Because, according to CEO Tony Hsieh, “Our No. 1 priority is the company culture. Our whole belief is that if we get the culture right, then everything else, including the customer service, will fall into place.”
Zappos embodies everything I believe about culture being the bedrock of corporate success.
Whereas all I can do is talk/write about it, Zappos puts its money where my mouth is and proves it works by becoming a billion dollar business over the decade of its existence.
Not bad for a dot com startup that was given exactly one week’s worth of additional funds in which to turn itself around or be shut down.
But heaping more kudos on CEO Tony Hsieh isn’t the purpose of this post. Rather, I’d like your opinion of why cultures such as this are so rare.
Hsieh is a Gen Xer running a truly multi-generational company (I confirmed this by calling and chatting with a customre support person, not HR or an official source, just a worker) that hires based on cultural fit and skills—they carry equal weight.
The focus on culture is one reason that Zappos doesn’t have the generational management problems besetting so many companies.
The Zappos culture is a long way from rocket science and Hsieh isn’t shy about explaining how to duplicate it, so you tell me.
Why don’t more companies do it?
Image credit: Robert Scoble on flickr
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