Book review: Nuts!
Nuts!, Southwest Airlines crazy recipe for business and personal success is the story of Southwest Airlines. Lars Pind told me about this book, and I have to agree: It’s a joy to read about a company that values freedom, creativity, people and, yes, love.
If your driving principles are love and fun, can you still make a profit in todays harsh business world? Well, here’s a few stats on Southwest:
- They’re the only airline in America who have had a profit every year since 1973
- They’ve grown from 3 planes and 250 employees in 1973 to 200 planes and 25.000 employees in 2002
- They service twice as many customers pr. employee as any other airline
- They have never mass-fired employees
- They have the highest customer ratings
So there!
The book is both a history of Southwest and a walkthrough of their values and how they do business. And it’s a wonderful read. I found myself laughing out loud many times, eg. when Herb Kelleher, the charismatic CEO, arm-wrestled the CEO of another airline over the right to an advertising slogan. They thought it’d be better than going to court over it, and turned it into a media event called “malice in Dallas” (and got a lot of free publicity out of it, by the way).
My favourite section in the book, is about how Southwest party. They seem to have big and small parties all the time, and they’re not above throwing a christmas party in july or september, if that’s the only time it’ll fit in the calendar. They use these celebrations to reinforce their culture, to keep their shared history alive, and to have fun.
The message of the book must be that Soutwest’s amazing success doesn’t come in spite of their focus on people, love and fun - but because of it. Their culture has resulted directly in a company that people feel proud to work for. Where employees feel like famliy member. Where many employees are willing to walk that extra mile, and where astounding acts of generosity and kindness seem to be the order of the day.
You can read the book simply as an entertaining story, but it is also full of concrete advice on how to achieve some of the same result. It’s not in a how-to format, but it’s there.
Soutwest shows us what business should be like, and the thought that Southwest are the exception and not the rule is a little sad. Let’s change that!
Positive Sharing » Make your business happy and rich Said,
March 24, 2006 @ 9:11 am
[...] Southwest Airlines Article on Southwest Airlines, Hire for attitude, train for skill Book: Nuts! by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg [...]
Positive Sharing » Top ten books Said,
May 16, 2006 @ 9:40 am
[...] It’s nice once in a while to look over the list of books I’ve read, and to think about which ones were the best. The ones I really enjoyed reading, or the ones that really changed my perception of some field. So, here’s my top ten list of books, in no particular order: * Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon * Hal Rosenbluth: The customer comes second * Dee Hock: Birth of the Chaordic Age * Timothy Gallwey: The inner game of work * Harrison Owen: Open Space Technology * Peter Block : The answer to how is yes * Kevin and Jackie Freiberg: Nuts! * Paul Watzlawick: Change * Robert Wright: Non zero * Harpo Marx: Harpo speaks [...]
Positive Sharing » Happy at work at Southwest Airlines Said,
May 17, 2006 @ 7:54 am
[...] Southwest’s model for happiness at work is worth learning from, and it’s decribed magnificently in the classic business book Nuts! by Jackie and Kevin Freiberg. Read it! [...]
Positive Sharing » Help Alex write a book Said,
May 24, 2006 @ 11:08 am
[...] Happiness at work is my favorite topic and I believe this idea is revolutionizing the business world. But while happiness is a deep theme in more and more business books (Nuts! and The Seven-Day Weekend are prime examples), there’s still no one book that deals with how you’d run a company based on happiness. [...]
Positive Sharing » “The customer is always right” is wrong Said,
July 17, 2006 @ 9:34 am
[...] Herb Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines shows: Herb Kelleher […] makes it clear that his employees come first — even if it means dismissing customers. But aren’t customers always right? “No, they are not,” Kelleher snaps. “And I think that’s one of the biggest betrayals of employees a boss can possibly commit. The customer is sometimes wrong. We don’t carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, ‘Fly somebody else. Don’t abuse our people.’” [...]
My favorite books about happiness at work Said,
January 2, 2007 @ 11:10 am
[...] Kevin and Jackie Freiberg: Nuts! The story of Southwest Airlines, one of the happiest and most successful companies I know. A classic book! [...]
Southwest Airlines stories by Stephen Hopson Said,
October 11, 2007 @ 11:05 am
[...] I’m a huge fan of Southwest myself - not that I’ve ever flown with them, I’ve just read a lot about them, including the excellent book Nuts! by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg. [...]
The Customer is Always Right - Not Anymore! | Mawe's Adobo Said,
January 11, 2008 @ 8:33 am
[...] Kelleher again agrees. His book entitled Nuts! states this plainly: But aren’t customers always right? “No, they are not,” Kelleher snaps. [...]
Crazy Guide to the Internet » Blog Archive » Top 5 reasons why “The Customer Is Always Right” is wrong Said,
February 3, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
[...] Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines shows: Herb Kelleher […] makes it clear that his employees come first — even if it means [...]
5 reasons why “The customer is Always Right” is wrong | Whatsup Said,
March 28, 2008 @ 5:28 am
[...] this extract, from Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines, [...]
Top 5 reasons why “The customer is Always Right” is wrong Said,
March 31, 2008 @ 7:36 pm
[...] Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book about Southwest Airlines shows: Herb Kelleher […] makes it clear that his employees come first — even if it [...]
Пять главных причин, почему утверждение “клиент всегда прав” неверно : Как продать - переводы статей про маркетинг, рекламу, брендинг Said,
April 7, 2008 @ 9:10 am
[...] Келлер соглашается, как показывает этот отрывок из книги “Чепуха” (отличная книга о Southwest Airlines): Герб Келлер […] ясно дает понять, что его сотрудники [...]
Рекрик Said,
May 6, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
[...] Келлер соглашается, как показывает этот отрывок из книги “Чепуха” (отличная книга о Southwest Airlines): Герб Келлер […] ясно дает понять, что его сотрудники [...]
The Customer is Always Right - Not Anymore! | Mawe's Space Said,
July 5, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
[...] Kelleher again agrees. His book entitled Nuts! states this plainly: But aren’t customers always right? “No, they are not,” Kelleher snaps. [...]