nuts!: southwest airlines’ crazy recipe for business and personal success by kevin freiberg and jackie freiberg seemed like an appropriate piece of reading while traveling (although i didn’t fly southwest at all). it was recommended by the ceo of my company.

the authors are quasi-insiders, working as consultants for the company and being granted access to documentation about the company that really helps them tell their story. it does end up being a bit puffy, though, so it takes some critical reading.

one thing i found interesting was that the company really makes an effort (or made — the book is a bit old) to communicate with its employees as much as possible. there’s no fear of overwhelming them with information: more is more. that’s the sort of thing i appreciate. i’m constantly digging into the archives of internal mailing lists that i’m not on, just so i know what is going on. it’s mail that i have to deal with that creates a headache.

the book is a good companion to a&e’s airline, which is a behind-the-scenes look at southwest. (there's also airline uk, which does the same for easyjet, and airport, which does it for heathrow.)

watching those shows, you really start to appreciate the value of being conservative when dealing with getting to the airport early, being flexible with your travel plans (not trying to arrive at the last minute), and most of all, not getting wasted at the airport bar.

something i noticed reading the amazon reviews for the other book by the same authors: some nutty reviews that just don’t make any sense (although some of the game reviews do make sense).