Delivering Happiness

The Origins of Bald & Blue Day

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Our annual Bald & Blue tradition started as a dare while a few of us
were hanging out at a bar. An e-mail went out the next day.
Date: June 7, 2005
From: Renee N.
To: Las Vegas Zappos Employees
Subject: Bald is BEAUTIFUL
Hello All,
A challenge or should I say invitation (by someone who will
remain nameless) has been put out to all the BRAVE men at Zappos
to shave their heads BALD or shaved down to a number 1. Tony will
be participating in shaving his head as well. We are looking for at
least 30 men or more to take part in this “just because” event. So far
we have 15 Brave Men.
We need some women volunteers to help shave these brave men’s
heads and volunteers to bring in at least 5 clippers with the number 1
attachment. For those of us not participating in shaving our heads,
please show your support by wearing your Zappos t-shirt and/or
wearing your Zappos hats.
This will take place tomorrow June 8th at 12:30 
PM
at the patio
outside the lunchroom. Please respond to me ASAP if you’d like to
participate in shaving your head or if you’d like to be a volunteer.
Thanks!
Our employees know that our number one priority at Zappos is our
company culture. While all of the things I just mentioned have come about
organically (most of them I don’t even know about until they’ve already
happened), a few of the things we do are more purposeful and planned.
For example, we have all of our employees walk through a central
reception area to get in and out of the building even though there are more
convenient doors located closer to the parking lot. The previous tenants had
used all the doors in our building for exiting, but we decided to mark all of
them for use as emergency exits only. We made this decision when we

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moved into our building as part of our goal to build more of a community
by increasing the chances of serendipitous employee interactions.
In most companies, logging in to the computer systems requires a login
and password. At Zappos, an additional step is required: a photo of a
randomly selected employee is displayed, and the user is given a multiple-
choice test to name that employee. Afterward, the profile and bio of that
employee are shown, so that everyone can learn more about each other.
Although there is no penalty for giving the wrong answer, we do keep a
record of everyone’s score. Internally, we refer to this as “The Face Game.”
We also try to measure the strength of our culture through regular
employee surveys by asking employees whether they agree or disagree with
statements such as:
I believe that the company has a higher purpose beyond just profits.
My role at Zappos has a real purpose—it is more than just a job.
I feel that I am in control of my career path and that I am progressing
in my personal and professional development at Zappos.
I consider my co-workers to be like my family and friends.
I am very happy in my job.
We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve our company culture,
no matter how unconventional or counterintuitive the approach may be. For
example, a research study showed that “letting workers swear at will in the
workplace can benefit employees and employers.” The article went on to
cite that “employees use swearing on a continuous basis, but not necessarily
in a negative, abusive manner. Swearing is used as a social phenomenon to
reflect solidarity and enhance group cohesiveness, or as a psychological
phenomenon to release stress.” We forwarded the article to our managers.
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 a company’s culture. This realization eventually led me to write the
following blog post:

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