So I’ve started ramping up my reading on what makes extraordinary companies what they are.  My goal by the end of this year is to make my company the absolute best place on the planet to work. It’s lofty, I know, but definitely possible.

I went and saw and met the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh (pic below), who has also tried (and many would say, has succeeded) to do the same thing.  I’ve read books like “The Science of Happiness” (I’m still trying to get my wife to waste a couple of days and read this).  And I’ve been tooling around trying to find stories about other companies.  And then I found the motherload.

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

I’ve just finished reading a truly inspiration book by Chip Conley, named Peak.  Chip Conley is the founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hotel group, and I’m proud to say is one of my Linkedin connections.

The book is about apply decades old psychology ideas to today’s business world, where things have changed in such a way that everyone is working harder and longer than before.  And because we’re spending our time working, we are looking for more meaning in our workplace.  This book is for the leaders of that workplace to create an environment for realizing what Conley calls “Peak” experiences, or those that transcend our normal desires, and even those that seem better than normal.

Maslow is the psychologist Conley models his ideas from.  Conley explains Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which identifies a person’s the lowest level need as that by which their basic needs (food, water, shelter, comfort) are met.  The second level on the hierarchy is achieved by exceeding expectations.  And the the last, the peak of the pyramid, is transformational, resulting in a transcendental, almost nirvana-like, experience.

The book is split into several parts, identifying the areas in business where the hierarchy can and should be applied, namely the workplace (managing employees and dealing with co-workers), in customer relationships, and investor relationships.  It’s fascinating to see how he has applied this to all facets of his business.

I’ve started implementing many of his suggestions, but am a far way off from success.  Wish me luck!

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

What do you get when you rate 20-30 of them with ‘like’ or ‘dislike?’  You get a playlist so scary close to what you would actually put on your own playlist that it will make your nose-hairs tingle.

I looked at Pandora a while ago, but never really got into it.  As I was perusing through iPhone apps, I was reminded of it and then saw it again at a friend’s house and so I started using it again at home and at work.  5 ‘stations’ later, Pandora.com is a daily fixture in my life, and has become an ongoing contributor toward helping me stay on the good side of the sanity line.

So this is how it works: you create stations based on the bands you like.  You can add/remove bands to further tweak the station and, as mentioned, rate specific songs that you like or dislike.  They create a really amazing setlist for you and it’s a fantastic way to learn about new, related bands.  I literally can’t tell you how awesome this service is.

Some other features:

• opt for the site not to play the song again for a month
• volume control
• see the album, band history, song lyrics, song info, and more
• see other pandora fans of this song/band and see what songs they like
• use it on your desktop, iphone, windows mobile phone and others

Do yourself a favor and try this out today.

Here’s some of the music I’m listening to:

Hot Chip

MGMT

The Shins

Muse

The Helio Sequence

Postal Service – The District Sleeps Alone Tonight