Friday, June 11, 2010

Delivering Happiness - Tony Hsieh and the story of Zappos


I read a lot of business books because I interview a lot of business authors.  My favorite books are those which are infused with inspiration along with advice. 

For me, Delivering Happiness by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh hit the mark.

Tony is an interesting guy. So,of course, I wanted to know more about him.  I wanted to know WHY he chose to get involved with Zappos, WHY he decided to make customer service the key to the business, WHY he is so beloved by employees and colleagues.  And I guess, I wanted to know that he had problems along the way as well. 

Because if he did, then there’s hope for all of us.

I got everything I wanted, and then some.  The story of his early entrepreneurial efforts as a button-maker, his outside-the-box thinking in school assignments (a sonnet in morse code?!) and his college foray into the food service business...  these were all stories that made me laugh, but also made me realize that it is the seemingly simple experiences in life that really shape our belief systems. 


What also appealed me, and was reinforced in me, was the power of friendship and loyalty that was the absolute undercurrent of the book.  People who believed in Tony; people in whom Tony believed and trusted.  Without that power, there would not be a Zappos today.  The smartest business minds in the world could not have made Zappos a success.  It was good people, trusting good people, wanting to work with good people.

The excerpts from the Zappos culture book were interesting, but I don’t think replicable.  Zappos is one of a kind.  But the inclusion of the questions and essays was a good reminder that sometimes we have to give away power to get it.

But perhaps what will remain with me for a long time after I pass this book to many others to read, is the final challenge: What is YOUR higher purpose? The ending of the book reads:
I hope reading this book has inspired you to…
          …make your customers happier (through better customer service), or…
          …make your employees happier (by focusing more on company culture), or…
          … make yourself happier (by learning more about the science of happiness).

If this book has inspired any of the above, then I’ll have done my part in helping both Zappos and myself achieve our higher purpose: delivering happiness to the world.
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Now that’s about the book.  I want to talk a little about the brilliance of Tony Hsieh.  Long before the book every came out, I had a female doctor friend who is 6’3 and wears size 12 shoes.  One day I asked her where she got them, since they fit her, AND they were cute.

“Zappos," she said.

I had never heard of them, so I went online to see what she was talking about.  Amazing.  Shoes in MY size (11) and cute.  And I could return them if I didn’t like them.

Several years later I began hearing about this Tony Hsieh guy.  A mention in a blog, a funny tweet that someone re-tweeted.  He seemed like an interesting guy.  So I started following him on Twitter.

He was wicked with the puns, he posted photos and videos of the Zappos team doing fun and funny things, and he always had a sense of wonder about him.  And he was brilliant in how his tweets marketed his business, but in a non-marketing way.  He became the standard I aspired to when it came to tweeting.

Soon he was on magazine covers, written about in journals, speaking at conferences.  And when the opportunity came to get an advance copy of his book, I jumped at it, because this was a guy I wanted to interview.  And although they were looking for bloggers, they sent me the book anyway.


I look forward to an interview with Tony because there is much to learn from him.  He is well-respected in the business world.  In an interview with Brian Solis about social marketing, Solis calls Tony “brilliant.”  I think you will agree.

So get the book and get inspired, and then I’ll let you know when we’ve scheduled an interview with Tony.  Follow him on twitter @zappos and watch Zappos videos on YouTube. 


Zappos and Tony Hsieh prove over and over again you CAN be successful by doing the right thing.  May many more companies take that lesson to heart.

For more about the book, you can go to: www.DeliveringHappinessBook.com
To purchase the book at Amazon:  www.Amazon.com/deliveringhappiness