mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Design and Deliver Happiness
January 12, 2013
The all around good time, right livelihood, and value vibe created by Zappos is a result of excellent design. The products we buy from Zappos are of high quality. What is perhaps more important is that they are steering capitalism in a healthy direction by upgrading the way business is designed. Feudalism, slavery, share cropping and all other adverse forms of employment feature happiness for shareholders only. This short-sighted vision produces more unhappy servants of the apparently happy owners of companies than it does loyal customers. With the contentment quotient working in reverse, quality, innovation, and value erode and vanish. I think this erosion is occurring in the public service sector. If Vets kill themselves there is a clear indication that something essential is missing in the overall design of our public business.
How can we make the business of government switch from a stagnant vessel of inefficient service to a lean mean contentment machine? Are there ways to practice the Zap happy values in public service and politics?
- Deliver WOW Through Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
- Pursue Growth and Learning
- Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
- Do More With Less
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Be Humble
I do see a little weirdness, but far too little. The WOW Through Service is just not happening. Imagine the government being passionate to do more with less, or be humble. These core values are created for the benefit of all. Happiness compounds daily, as does negligence. My dream government applies these guiding principles to create a better world. Imagine, gentle reader, a government that makes us as happy as Zappos does, all while being creative and open minded. We can dream.
Goldilocks in Business
January 3, 2013
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Three Bears and Goldilocks
My story in business since I returned to commerce now seems like Goldilocks and the Three Bears to me. While learning inbound marketing and social media I attempted to find the right marketing partner. I understand how this works because for years I was the marketing partner for all travel providers (travel agent) , and fancy spas sold my services as a teacher ( employee). Commission is something I have always paid happily, even back when I was young production potter paying a gallery to sell my pots. It is fair, and it keeps overhead where it belongs.
My first guess about the perfect partner was focused on Watsu. I decided that the Watsu people maintain pools which are not fully booked, therefore Floatli would give them something else to sell in their pools. I wandered around from hot spring to hot spring looking for the right one, but this combo was not going to happen, for whatever reason.
Next, I decided that mermaids naturally combined with Floatli and were trending. I learned about the people who are into mermaids, and organized a weekend at a hot spring for mermaids to meet water fitness enthusiasts. This was not the match I had imagined either. I did not suffer terribly through these experiences, mind you. I simply found no appropriate fit for a marketing vehicle.
My digital wanderings had exposed me to Chris Brogan and Anthony Innarino who taught a workshop on sales last year. The well presented course provided the piece that had been missing in my technique. They carefully explained the process of qualifying customers. I had clearly demonstrated that deciding myself that the customer needs my product was the wrong initial step to take. Then they gave me the secret to reverse all errors made in the mama bear’s bed and the papa bear’s bed. To qualify a potential customer you first ask if they want to have a conversation with you about whatever you are pitching. Proceeding without taking this step is the number one way salespeople turn others off forever. The interest as well as the ability to execute has to be there, or you are wasting time. Thanks, Chris and Anthony, that information arrived none too soon.
My target now is Zappos, which fits perfectly because Floatli is the exact opposite of shoes, and Zappos is very sporty. This time, however, I will proceed armed with my new information, and ask the Zapsters if they want to have a conversation about marketing Floatli. That is why I will send this post to them in hopes of a positive response. I believe I can show how we belong together in business, for the benefit of all sentient beings. Gravity meets weightlessness, outside the box (but inside a Zappos box). Please say yes, Zapsters.
Culture Clown at Zappos
All God’s Children Got Shoes
December 18, 2012
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This song has been going around in my head as I focus on my goal for 2013. I plan to convince Tony Hseih that Floatli is the perfect official company sport of Zappos, so he will want to market it with me. Normally they take already developed products being sold elsewhere and market them. I want the Zapsters to partner me to refine and package it to perfection with me as well. What I can offer is an international trademark on the name Floatli, my expertise, and a fun versatile product that works for sports as well as therapy and training. It is a perfect match for Lake Mead, or the inevitable pool for employees downtown that will be in the future. When I visited them I was really happy to know they can pull off such a pure and direct match between the core values and the results. Floatli also works from the core, and is fun. I came within a few yards of Tony as I was leaving in my Zappos shuttle back to Vegas. I had a giant urge to blurt out my intentions, but I thought better of it. Now I have thought about it, and I am clear. I want to Zap, and believe I can convince the Zappsters of the merit of Zapping with Floatli. We will work this from the ground up, starting with the most important of all things, shoes. Once I know which shoes to wear, then I will enumerate the core values and how we align perfectly, fluidly, and even geographically. Yo, Tony, I am going to convince you, and you will like it. I want to Zap with you for the benefit of ALL the sentient beings. Resistance may not be futile, but Floatli is a lot more fun (one of our mutual core values).
He’s Got Shoes
Newton’s Third Law Goes Shopping
November 24, 2012
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In case you need to refresh Sir Isaac Newton gave us some basic concepts that we use today. He broke down movement and energy to define inertia. The third law of motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This may be easy to imagine in terms of tug boats or bumper cars, but how does this law pertaining to matter have significance we can use to make smarter purchases? When we play billiards we consider the angle, the trajectory, the speed of the ball as we direct it on its way. Do we ever think about the economic repercussions we create with our spending decisions?
Today is shop local, Small Business Saturday. At the same time the mega retailers are bringing in customers with loss leaders to hunt for extreme bargains. Santa is in business all over the country promoting the concept that a big spending binge is healthy, cheery, and designates the participants as Christians. Giant light displays and seasonal music beckon to those who are attracted to all that. Office parties with cocktails and perhaps secret Santa designate this month as Slack for Seasonal Cheer time. Monday while employees are paid to be working, a day to shop on line will be granted by workers to workers. Only a Grinch or a Scrooge would interfere with Cyber Monday. Culturally this is the time to allow employees to take it easy around the office as a reward for doing their jobs for 11 months. What equal and opposite harm can come from that?
Meanwhile over at Zappo’s every single employee is brushing up skills, checking them twice, because it does not matter if you are naughty or nice….you will be answering the phone and delivering happiness to customers during this busiest shopping season. The core values that run the best retail experience on earth include full collaboration from all staff all the time. When needs of the customers’ shift, they shift to accommodate. They do not carry the myth that by giving them a party in December the company fulfills the promise to make employees happy. The Zappsters know that an overall commitment to serve the happiness of both customers and staff is in place and being improved constantly. Their benefits, their work environment, and their personal satisfaction are at the very foundation of the success enjoyed by the company. I do enjoy on line shopping, in spite of the fact that it does not support my local economy. Since I am a speed shopper, I am not so much into the comparison of prices as I am into a superior selection and customer service. The happy Zappsters deliver, so much more than shoes. I like the idea that my purchase contributes to a happy healthy workplace if not to my micro economy.
Tony Hsieh
September 16, 2012
Tony Hsieh of Zappos
On my recent tour of Zappos headquarters in Henderson NV I was treated to a glimpse of Tony Hsieh himself. As I departed with my shuttle driver for the ride back to town he was entering the building I was exiting. I stared for a moment to make sure he was himself. I had a fleeting question in my mind about the possibility that a hologram of Tony is somehow implanted into each person’s visit, but they are all prerecorded and projected on a green screen or something. He was low key, in jeans, and moving along with purpose. He did have the presence of mind not to be sitting in his desk when the tour comes along, but I was very excited to see him. It is hard to describe the way I think of his celebrity and my connection to it. I have been a shoe lover forever, but this is so much more than just shoes.
I admire him for his mastery of alchemy in capitalism. I admire his good taste and his smart choices. Moving the headquarters to the former Las Vegas City Hall is an example of upcycling that makes my heart beat faster. He has a strong agenda to grow his culture and provide right livelihood for his employees. The company and all of the customers who shop there are the major lucky beneficiaries of his vision of business. I love the way they completely make obvious how the culture works, how it remains strong, and how it serves all involved.
Zappos, the Zenith of Capitalism
September 14, 2012
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Zappos headquarters
Rasta office humor
At different times in history humans have taken giant leaps that transformed the world quickly and forever. We look at the printing press, the industrial revolution, and the digital age as big new waves of change. We tested the theory of capitalism against the theory of Marxism. Societies languished in state capitalism ( a la USSR) and never created the utopia they attempted. Greed and corruption have triumphed in many cases, while workers have been disempowered. The unrest and ignorance that spreads can be exasperating. I have some very good news, gentle readers. There is hope that systems of excellent good will and happiness can be created from pure capitalism. I have seen with my own eyes the purposeful and systematic creation of happiness. It is not a surprise to me that pure happiness is created by the mastery of a refined, balanced and efficient way to enchant customers. Providing the perfect footwear and more for each person and on every occasion is done purposefully. Zappos is truly the happiest place on earth. The employees practice happiness in themselves, to each other, and always with the customer.
Offering employees support and coaching for both personal and company goals includes them all in a feeling of belonging to a happy group. The work environment is as unstructured as possible, but completely measured and analyzed. If a worker wants to take one of the ongoing classes, the schedule is altered if possible and the training is placed on the schedule. The same is true if an employee wants to take advantage of the personal coach, or the entire training department available for a review or update on the company training that may be needed. At the busiest times, all employees pitch in and answer phones. They all have the current training and they all live by the core values, or they will not stay at Zappos. Statistics are posted on boards to make all aware of the rate of success. When they break a previous record for sales in one day, everyone in the company is given a commemorative t shirt. Chances are that almost everyone was very busy cross training to reach that new one day goal, so they share the glory. In fact, I think the big secret is that they share the glory. They also share great benefits and fairly unlimited ability to be promoted within the company.
The core values run the company, and the people benefit from the purity of the core values. The happy clients and the happy customer service aces share the beauty of the efficient ,well defined way to do business. I always knew heaven would include a super selection of shoes.
Zappos office
Synesthesia
September 6, 2012
The merging of the senses is a process and a practice. To create an artist or inventor can call on all the senses and blend the associations into new meaning. You may be synesthetic in certain parts of you life, such as personal fashion or cuisine. I make an attempt to both try new experiences and blend all the sensory information into art. My artistic sense was inspired long ago by my design teacher, Max Gottschalk, who began the semester with a lecture about designing your life. I also hung out with Max later in his life and had the pleasure of doing some major synesthesia with him when he was 92 and pretty far out there. At that time he used to refer to “sonic water” when we were in the water. I questioned him thoroughly about this sonic water, but he provided little detail. I still wonder about that.
I went to Las Vegas to tour Zappos headquarters recently. My goals were entirely fulfilled on the tour. In order to get there I flew to Vegas, stayed at a big casino hotel, and coincidentally went to a fashion show. I flew home after a little more than 24 hours, but the tightly scheduled events, including the Mormons on the plane ride back, have all become one big circus in my mind. Without intending to do so, I created the circumstances that are perfect for synesthetic problem solving. I left with a design in my head for a very important event I had been planning for ages. The juxtaposition of over the top Bellagio surroundings, Zappo’s over the top customer service, and clothing designer Joey Galon’s over the top evening gowns have all merged in my creative process to outline the best little mermaid bat mitzvah after party ever attempted.
I am on a mission to create for my 13 year old friend Mollie a party that expresses her own creativity and that of a few of her close friends. With the date is closing in, and I had no real plan to pull this whole idea into shape. I have given her a sewing machine, a 20 minute sewing lesson, and some prom dresses. Thanks to the various senses that merged the Las Vegas experience for me, we now know what we are going to do!!! Mollie will assemble the girls and fit them into the dresses they like best. She will cut off the bottom of the dress and we will retrofit them all to be mermaid dresses. Some individual craft work on the bottom of each dress will make each an individual and unique piece of art. I always like to put lessons inside a fun project because that inspires me. I believe I can deliver sewing and fashion design lessons from the upcycle perspective to some unsuspecting young ladies.
office of the most successful capitalists on earth
- glass flowers
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