“Delivering Happiness” Day 2

Today’s posting is the review and some important links regarding the book "Delivery Happiness."

Review

The entire first section of the book which details the author's life and how he got to where he is today, is just too long and drawn-out. I agree that it’s important to know something about Tony Hsieh (pronounced “shay”) in case you wonder how he got to be the CEO and was a major builder of Zappo’s, an extremely successful company. But it needs to be seriously condensed. If you want to really understand him and possibly try to emulate him, though, you should not skip this first section. Also, even this first section has good lists of advice that we can all apply, such as thoughts on evaluating market opportunities and strategy, to name just a couple.

Most of the rest of the book has the meat of the story of how Zappo’s really became the success that it is, today, including many specific lists of items directly from the company. For example, Tony has shared the company’s “Top 10 Ways to Instill Customer Service Into Your Company” and the book specifically addresses their hiring methodology that ensures they get people that will fit in with their customer-service-oriented culture.

The final section talks specifically about “happiness” and asks us all to consider what that is and what makes us happy. It’s a mini-tutorial and workshop on the topic.

Finally:  If you don’t like “can do” and upbeat books that stress that you get what you put into things, you won’t this book. Tony’s “lucky” streak took a LOT of hard work and is a lesson that success often doesn’t come easily.

Links

The book’s web-site: http://www.deliveringhappiness.com/

The link to purchase the book (but wait until Thursday’s blog posting before you do): http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446563048

Tomorrow’s posting:     My thoughts on this book and topic, regarding how it relates to our industry.

Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/