Inside Zappos

As I have been finishing up Delivering Happiness about the corporate values and culture of Zappos, a good friend sent me this link to greater highlight why they are a company worth reading about.

Fight Clubbie

As Tyler Durden would be proud to watch this “Cain and Able” altercation between the twins, it definitely brings to light what kind of brutality went on behind the scenes in Jen’s womb.  When Jen would say, “I think they’re kicking,” little did we know that they were “dropkicking.”

In this first out-of-the-womb bout, Dylan walks away winning the round; however, Yorke shows signs of resilience and stamina amongst hard-fought blows.

Behind The Birthing Scenes

As Dylan and Yorke are two little studs, their entrance into the world was nothing short of easy.

Following the suggestion of the high-risk doctor, we decided to bring Jen into the hospital on the evening of August 31.  Following some preparations, she was then given her Pitocin on the morning of September 1.  The “real” process then began with consistent contractions, epidurals, monitors, etc., until she was finally ready to deliver at 2pm.

Due to possible complications with twins, all twin deliveries occur in the operating room, where she was then transported.  However, for all of the doctor, nurses, and technitions waiting for delivery, it was SLOW moving.  There was about 2 hours of pushing before Dylan entered the world, and then another hour of pushing for Yorke to finally make his way through.

All in all, it was a hard but good day, as we’re grateful to God for these two new, and every unexpected additions to our family.

Below are some rated-G video highlights, with the ending scene making me chuckle as I was apparently making matters worse deciding to video tape the very discomforting “afterbirth purge” (lovely!).  I promise not to make that mistake next time!    (That’s right, four more to go for Dave & Jen Plus 10!)

The Dynamic Duo Have Arrived

As I was hoping that Kid A would have been Yorke, we will suffice for him to have the title of Kid B, with Dylan taking the older brother reign.

Creature Comforts

Some nice new videos from Yeasayer and MGMT both involving the small little creatures that tie us down:

As I officially start a new position today, it is a reminder that for successful transition to take place, I must strategically let go of the past and embrace the imperatives of my new context.  As Michael Watkins states in The First 90 Days, regarding job transition, “you must make the mental break from your old job and prepare to take charge in the new one.  Perhaps the biggest pitfall you face is assuming that what has made you successful to this point in your career will continue to do so.  The dangers of sticking with what you know, working extremely hard at doing it, and failing miserably are very real” (12).

But those ol’ habits are hard to break, so hopefully God will provide added grace in releasing what’s essential.

Car Quotes

On our way to Chicago there were lots of interesting conversations.  Here are two for public viewing:

This conversation took place about 2 minutes after riding away from our Akron home:

Lucy: Mom, if dad died would we still move?

Jen: No, probably not.  I think we would just stay in Akron.

Lucy: Guys, let’s kill dad.

This conversation took place upon driving through the city of Chicago:

Jen: Being here makes me so thankful to God that we were able to do this before the babies arrive.

Lucy: Why?

Jen: Because it just makes it much easier to have babies in a more stable environment where you don’t have to disrupt their patterns…like breast feeding.

Riley: Mom, does this mean you are going to have your shirt off a lot in the house?

Jen: No, but they do make shirts with holes that I can unbutton to breastfeed.

Conner: We just reached a whole new level of “creepy.“

Tuning Out The World

My 6-year-old daughter, Lucy, has recently been starting a trend where she plants herself in front of the computer and watches the latest music videos from the likes of Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, & Selena Gomez.  As I am obviously thankful she doesn’t torture us with pre-teen, plastic-pop using our Bose speakers, the use of her headphones makes it even more eerily disturbing (and distracting) while we try to watch television.

Quote of the Day

Some good friends from our community group dropped off a meal as we are conducting final preparations for our move nearby the Windy City.  Appropriately, the meal was delicious, homemade Chicago-style pizza, with one pizza described as, “similar to bacon but better.”

My son Conner is a bacon lover, and personal fan of this Jim Gaffigan “bacon bit”:

So Conner, curious about this meat marketed as “better than bacon,” forced an inquiry:

“Dad, do you think this is really better than bacon?”

“I don’t know.  I mean that is like saying something is better than Jesus.”

“But Dad, do you think if you bit into Jesus he would taste better than bacon?”

“I don’t know, ask a Catholic?”

“What’s that mean?”

“Let’s save that for our after-dinner discussion.”

All Sacrifice, No Return

A nice video from Broken Bells, having many life implications.

Something To Rave About

Recently I was reading “Delivering Happiness” by Zappos‘ CEO, Tony Hsieh.  It is an entertaining read discovering the background, life, and key experiences that have shaped Tony and the core values of Zappos.

One of those experiences that fueled “community” and “team” into his corporate value system was the rave experience.  As Tony has a deep rave history, he explains one of his first experiences:

As someone who is usually known as being the most logical and rationale person in a group, I was surprised to feel myself swept with an overwhelming sense of spirituality—not in the religious sense, but a sense of deep connection with everyone who was there as well as the rest of the universe…

As I tried to analyze what was going on in more detail, I realized that the dancing here was different from the dancing I usually witnessed in night clubs.  Here, there was no sense of self-consciousness or feeling that anyone was dancing to be seen dancing, whereas in nightclubs, there was usually the feeling of being on display somehow.  In nightclubs, people usually dance with each direction.  Everyone was facing the DJ, who was elevated up on stage, as if he was channeling his energy to the crowd.  It almost felt as if everyone was worshipping the DJ.

The entire room felt like one massive, united tribe of thousands of people, and the DJ was the tribal leader of the group.  People weren’t dancing to the music so much as the music seemed like it was simply moving through everyone.  The steady wordless electronic beats were the unifying heartbeats that synchronized the crowd.  It was as if the existence of individual consciousness had disappeared and been replaced by a single unifying group consciousness, the same way a flock of birds might seem like a single entity instead of a collection of individual birds.  Everyone in the warehouse had a shared purpose.  We were all contributors to the collective rave experience.

A fantastic picture of not only our innate spiritual fabric to worship and commune (as well as a worship service I one day hope for!), but also a challenge for every corporation, team, and community in achieving deep collaboration and collective oneness.