Acronym

To continue our month-long look at Tony Hsieh's book Delivering Happiness, let's talk about culture.

Zappos is perhaps as well known for its culture as it is for its shoes. Every article I've read about the company (including one we ran in Associations Now) finds space to cite at least a story or two about the culture of the organization and the lengths its employees will go to because of that culture. But Zappos didn't wake up one morning to discover that they had a strong company culture. They committed to it and put in the sweat required to build it.

"Over time, as we focused more and more on our culture, we ultimately came to the realization that a company's culture and a company's brand are really just two sides of the same coin. The brand is just a lagging indicator of the company's culture," writes Hsieh in Delivering Happiness. (boldface mine, because I love that quote)

Hsieh's point here goes back to a lot of what's been written over the years about authenticity. The argument isn't that you should be authentic just because it's better to be authentic; the argument is that you should be authentic because over time it's impossible to hide who you really are. Eventually, you'll get tired, you'll speak without thinking, and your real self will be visible, no matter how hard you work to craft an alternate image of yourself.

The same is true of organizations. Hsieh puts it this way: "The fundamental problem is that you can't anticipate every possible touch point that could influence the perception of your company's brand." You can script your customer service reps' responses to frequently asked questions; you can have approved language and messaging for a wide variety of situations. But who knows? Maybe a member will run into one of your staff on the street or sit near them in a restaurant. (On my flight back from LA a few weeks ago, I looked across the aisle and realized the gentleman sitting across from me was reading Associations Now. Admittedly, the fact that I was returning from the Annual Meeting raised the odds of that happening, but my point is that you never know where members will be.)

If you've hired the right people and they've completely committed to your culture, it won't matter where or when your staff encounter a member or customer. Your members will experience the same brand, always, no matter what.

"At the end of the day," Hsieh writes, "just remember that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff--including building a great brand--will fall into place on its own."

Next week, I'll take a look at a few more a-has about culture that I got from Delivering Happiness. (And click the link below for a look at our upcoming bookblogging schedule for October through December.)