Hi, Chip - excellent post and I continue to enjoy the "sprinkles" model:)

Your story about Herb Kelleher hiding in the overhead bin did spur a thought, though.  I wonder if we can always equate "fun" with "playful".  Personally, I would not enjoy someone "popping out" on me.   It might be in the spirit of fun and to create that extra dash of excitement, but it might backfire too.

So, to my thinking, the actions we choose to do to create our "sprinkles" need to have a clear goal beyond just being fun.  I think the various examples of airline attendants spicing up that safety and airplane rules spiel we have all heard many, many times is a good example of adding some fun with much less risk of someone having a cardiac moment:)

I think that authentic leaders can maximize the usefulness of spending some time on the front lines, while others are simply engaging in photo ops.  Every holiday, politicians man the soup kitchen lines or hammer a strategically posed nail on a Habitat house to show they are hands-on.  I would imagine that Tony Hsieh is not helping because of photo ops or to look good, but to clearly share his idea of what is important when things are busy.  That's authentic leadership ...

Thanks for writing a great book:) ...

John