Yes, you can nice guys through the first goal. This is the overarching theme of the new book from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness, a way to passion, profit and purpose. Delivering Happiness chronicles the rise of a Zappos-baked approach to multi-billion-dollar top of the high touch customer service.The book is divided into three sections. In the first section, Hsieh told his personal story, including his early childhood and emerging entrepreneurial adventures, including amisguided efforts to worm farming. The details of his little unstructured training at Harvard, and his kismet kissed co-founder of LinkExchange (Microsoft ultimately be sold for 265 million U.S. dollars) are downright fascinating.
As it built for the managing director of a company on a wide-open culture, Hsieh is remarkably frank is about his successes, failures, and all assets, and this first section of the strongest in the book. He writes in a breezy, accessible, invigorating styleDelivering the rare good fortune makes business book, which is also a real page turner.
As a longtime admirer of Hsieh and Zappos customer and his customer first mantra, I thought I had a treat on this story. But, I was shocked by the number of times narrowly averted ruin in his early days Zappos. Hsieh and his co-founders went to great lengths to keep companies on the extraordinary life, including housing staff in their homes. Everyone in the vicinity of harrowing death of Zappos makes youCheer that much louder when the company finally succeeded in a large scale.
The middle section of the book is the legendary corporate culture Zappos’ culture dedicated, above all its 10 most important values. Hsieh is refreshingly honest in his admission that the values were not created soon enough, and partly as protection against the cultural malignancy that develops plagued Link Exchange. While Hsieh warns that Zappos’ core values is not a text book that can be copied by others,Companies (because they can both shape and reflect the unique culture), not help, but wonder why more companies do not try, his ideas about building long-term value through short-term destruction of the middle to accept the expectations of customers.
While interesting as a concept, the involvement of employees to accompany stories of each of the 10 core values unfortunately slows down the momentum built up in the first third of the book. The personification of the principles will help to clarify how they are usedDay-to-day, but the shift in tonality, which are handled by several authors stalks relentlessly weakens the concentration and the urgency of the deployment of Happiness.
The third part of the book consists of Zappos ’sales at Amazon.com (for 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) and the founding of Zappos Insights program (where corporate training Zappos’ customer-centric culture and can receive methods). This component is remarkable for most Hsieh a recognition that the Zappos Board was unhappy with hisMetamorphosis for long-term success at the expense of short-term profits. The word-for-word reprinting Hsieh’s e-mails to staff in relation to the acquisition Amazon also priceless.
The book concludes with a few pages about the science of happiness, and how personal and professional happiness can be inextricably linked. Hsieh concedes that the study of happiness is a personal hobby, and while his passion is obvious to the topic, theme or a clear call to action is largelyabsent.
And ultimately, that’s the challenge with the provision of Happiness. In parts it is one of the best business books I have ever read, but most of those are the elements, driven by a narrative and timeline will be. And in truth, an entire book devoted to the history of Hsieh and Zappos would have been a great read.
And, would a book exclusively Zappos’ core values and philosophies dedicated were also a great read.
But instead we have a bit of each, andUnfortunately, 1 + 1 not equal to 3 in this circumstance. It is not really to feel like a book but more like melted parts of three pounds.
There are some excellent takeaways in Delivering happiness, especially around the thin line between success and failure, how to deal with business partners and suppliers, and ways in which Zappos remains a family business, such as culture building among hundreds (maybe thousands) of employees. My favorite is the “Face-game”, where each timean employee logs on the Web, he or she presented with a photograph of another employee, and a list of names. Whether the employee can guess the correct identification, the bio of the team member is shown, building familiarity in the ranks. Brilliant. Nor is the discussion about Zappos’ Talent Development and Care Program (the pipeline) detailed and fascinating.
But ultimately, I ended Delivering Happiness wanting more. Much more. A text book. A mission. A mantra.Reading Delivering happiness will convince you that there is a better way, that success and happiness are not mutually exclusive, and that Tony Hsieh is a special person. Did Delivering Happiness rock me to my core? No, but the stories and nuggets of insight make it well worth the purchase price and then some.
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