Spreading WOW

I'm reading "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos right now.  I bet if Tony had his way, he'd have called it "Delivering WOWness," in reference to one of the company's core values. The parable of going above and beyond reminds me of a moment the other week, when I became the unexpected recipient of WOW.

The day before had been without a doubt a terrible horrible no good very bad day for all of us. Phil, Bandsintown's CTO and I agreed that despite the long night of work that lay ahead, neither if us could wait to go to sleep if only to wake up and start fresh the next day.

Before bidding the team goodbye, I made a mental note to stop by Homies, the new cinnamon roll place near The Hive on my way to the office the next day. The only thing better than starting the day off fresh, I reasoned, was to start it off fresh and sweet.

I walked in and started chatting with the guy behind the counter and his friend as he took my order.  We chatted about music, I told him about Bandsintown and how I was buying his cinnamon rolls to start the day off right following such a horrendous 24 hours.

As we spoke, I noticed he was stuffing the box with the fresh-from-the-oven treats.  Before I could say a word, he put a lid on it, sealed it and sent me on my way, without charging me a dime. Had he just thrown in one or two extra, I would have been touched, but this was truly WOW.

I wasn't familiar with the phrase spreading WOW before, but it captures that experience perfectly. I went back the next day with a few Bandsintown T-shirts and stickers and told the girl behind the counter what had happened. The man who had helped me the day before was the owner, Butch. "Oh, that's just how butch is," the girl explained. Butch is clearly a man of WOW. 

Since then, I've been looking for opportunities to spread WOW as well. The secret is that it does as much to brighten the day of the person spreading it as it does for the recipients themselves.

 

 

 

 

By

Alexis Rodich

 |  August 27, 2010; 6:36 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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