Got this recently from another most generous and enthusiastic reader, Robleh Jama.
RJ here.
I'm a Torontonian slash web entrepreneur (sold my baby sneakerplay.com - a social network for sneaker heads earlier this year) - and the guy who tweeted about your book a couple of days ago.
I recently purchased your book and I only read the first chapter before my brain was flooded with cool ideas on how to surprise and delight customers...I will definitely be applying this to the project I work on in the future....and am looking forward to reading the rest of the book on flight I'm going on later this evening.
(Okay Andy, enough ego-stroking...get to the point!)
I just had to share this really creative application of "Surprise" service from a cafe in Japan that I came across via PSFK. It's about a mystery cafe called Ogori:"In a nutshell, you get what the person before you ordered, and the next person gets what you ordered. Thus, if you’re in on the game, you can choose to be either a generous benefactor, and treat those that come after you – or try your luck at being cheap. Either way, it’s an interesting experiment that explores surprise, kindness and encourages interactions." (See photo below.)
How cool, and exciting, and scary, is this? Gives a new meaning to "Uh, I'll have what she's having," doesn't it? Check out the full story here.
So...why do this? Well, one of the four main theories of creating Surprise is "Sometimes, There IS No Reason." There's a lot to say about the Karma you're puttin' out by playing the game, and it indeed DOES get people talking more than they would about your average Japanese corner snackbar. To quote Cabel Saasser, who sent the story into the PSFK blog, "It was SO worth it."
No arguments here.