What a long, strange trip it has been! Writing two books in barely more than a year while running a company that's growing by leaps and bounds is not for the faint of heart. I could not have done this without the support of so many friends and colleagues. First off, I can't say enough about Debra Amador DeLaRosa, my research partner, editor extraordinaire, publicist, and good friend who was my midwife through this birthing process. This was our second collaboration, and I still feel so lucky to have her unfailing support in all my endeavors. My executive committee and home office colleagues (especially my assistant Rachel Carlton) at Joie de Vivre put up with many Monday morning arrivals by a very sleep-deprived Chip—after my weekends were spent writing by candlelight. Of course, none of this would be possible without the labors of love that more than 3,000 Joie de Vivre employees put into their work every day. Thanks to all of you for putting up with my experiments in how to implement Maslow's principles in our workplace. And a very special thank you to Rachel Carlton. Before she came along, I'd never had an executive assistant. I am now deeply spoiled, as Rachel keeps more balls in the air than I do—and she does it with real grace, efficiency, and smarts.

There are so many others who helped contribute ideas or editing to this process. Alan Webber read my initial concept for the book and bluntly told me, “The world doesn't need another business book.” His advice helped me to make Peak more of a personal story. My close friend Drew Banks and I regularly jump into the deep end discussing the philosophy of business. More than anyone else other than Debra, Drew helped me find my voice in interpreting Maslow's work (and he also came up with the title for this book). My former colleague Eric Sinoway, who's now running the Worth media empire, gave me numerous editing suggestions that helped to clarify some essential points. Eric has a true knack for understanding how to take my New Age nuggets and turn them into mainstream musings. My best friend Vanda fed me full of inspiration. And Sue Funkhouser became the world's foremost expert on how to apply Peak principles in organizations. She was very helpful in adding material to this updated edition.

All of the following people made valuable contributions to this work, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart: Jim Oakley, Peter Sims, Seth Godin, MeiMei Fox, Mike Faith, Andrew Greenberg, Fran Conley (yes, my mom!), Laura Galloway, Eugene Dilan, Athena Katsaros, Christian Forthomme, Rob Delamater, Dave Norton, Lenny Nash, Paul Coury, Stephen Mitchell, Yosi Amram, Lindsay Nelson, Chris Anderson, Steven Addis, Johanna Vondeling, Tris Brown, Russ Silva, David Erickson, Michael Scribner, Mark McCormick, Robin Beers, Lowell Selvin, Zern Liew, Matthew and Tercis Englehart, Nancy Murphy, Scott Bovard, Peter and Cathleen Schwartz, Mary Jane Ryan, Kristin Cobble, David Cragg, William Powanda, Jamie Danziger, Mark Dwight, Gary Muszynski, Jack Crawford Jr., Katherine von Jan, Kirsten Hassert, Jan Lapidoth, Srikumar Rao, Gregg Britt, Denise Corcoran, and Larry and Ann Wheat. Also, a big thanks to the folks at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay who took care of me during my last week of writing hibernation. They reminded me of how a business can help its customers reach self-actualization. And my Vizsla, Sugar Ray (my writing companion), showed me that even bird dogs could have peak experiences when they chase seagulls on the beach.

And there are those unique business leaders who so generously spent time talking with me about my theory. These individuals demonstrate daily that Maslow's influence goes way beyond my little company. Thanks to Mort Meyerson, Danny Meyer, Robert Stephens, Bill George, Lee Ozley, Walter Robb, Dave Pottruck, Marc Benioff, George Zimmer, Reed Hastings, Ron Johnson, Arthur Gillis, George McCown, Bill Price, Kent Thiry, John Donohoe, Michael Gross, Peter Mullin, Bill Linton, Tudor Havriliuc, Joe Gebbia, Ping Fu, Julie Hanna, Kip Tindell, Ben Silbermann, and Mike Meldman.

Then there's the literary brigade. Amy Rennert, my agent, knew I had this book cooking and has been trying to gently pry it out of me for a half-dozen years. And thanks to the team at Jossey-Bass/Wiley. I heard from a lot of New York publishers that Joie de Vivre isn't a household word (except for maybe in Marseilles), but the San Francisco–based Jossey-Bass folks knew who I was and what the potential impact of this book could be. Thanks to senior editor and “Chip-believer” Susan Williams, who gave birth to her own baby in the middle of my writing and put me in the care of Byron Schneider, who came to the rescue and did a masterful job of guiding my thinking and writing. And thanks to Liz Gildea, my associate editor, who helped me hone and deliver this newest edition, along with Jocelyn Kwiatkowski, Jeanenne Ray, and Danielle Serpica. And Anne Digges for improving Peak's pyramids. Carolyn Carlstroem, Erik Thrasher, Rob Brandt, Amie Wong, Amy Packard, Adrian Morgan, Kathe Sweeney, Rebecca Browning, Mark Karmendy, Genoveva Llosa, and Jan Andersen helped Peak reach its peak.

Finally, I need to say a big thank you to Deborah Stephens, the leading expert on how Abraham Maslow's theories are used in the workplace. Deborah is one of the coeditors of Maslow on Management and Douglas McGregor, Revisited and author of The Maslow Business Reader. As I started developing my book proposal for Peak, I reached out to Deborah, not knowing how she might respond to this Maslow-channeling CEO. Deborah graciously welcomed my interpretive inquiry of Maslow, and she truly appreciated how we'd adapted the Hierarchy of Needs within Joie de Vivre. Without Deborah's support, I'm not sure I would have started scaling this Peak.