Delivering Happiness: One Book At a Time
Disclaimer: I received an advance reading copy of Delivering Happiness at no cost to me in exchange for my honest and unbiased review of the book.
Disclaimer 2: I am not a book reviewer and will do my best not to fumble this review up to badly.
An Overview
If you follow the world of social media at all chances are you’ve heard of Zappos (the online shoe retailer) as the company is constantly referenced as a case study for how a business should be participating and engaging in social media or maybe you’ve heard of Zappos because of their (in their words) recent marriage to Amazon in a deal worth just over 1 billion dollars.
The CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh has recently authored a book “Delivering Happiness – A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose” and while Tony is the CEO of Zappos this book isn’t about business, nor is it solely about Zappos. No, instead this book is more about the ups and downs, the highs and lows and the struggles that each and every one of us deal with in life.
Now, in saying that Delivering Happiness could still be considered a business book in the loosest sense of the term as the life lessons that Tony shares with the reader could be used to not only make oneself happier but could also translate into helping a business become more successful.
So if Delivering Happiness isn’t a business book, what type of book is it?
- Is it a motivational book? Sometimes
- Is it a self-help book? If you apply some of the lessons that Tony learned it could help you.
- Is it an inspirational book? Sometimes but not always
- Is it a spiritual book? It shares some qualities
- Is it a biography? To some degree
So if it doesn’t fit into any of the categories above but has elements of all contained within the writings what type of book is this?
I would classify this book as a life journal of a very fascinating individual who’s continued mission in life is to spread happiness to those directly around him and to others he has no relation with.
I found Delivering Happiness to be divided into three different but related parts which are:
- Childhood learning’s – This part deals with Tony as he grows up in childhood, how his parents helped shape his character and the lighting of his entrepreneurial flame.
- Life lessons – Deals with Tony at college, getting a job after graduation and realizing he needs to do something more than punch the clock. His first successful company is launched and later sold and he learns some important lessons that he carries through to Zappos.
- Zappos – A lot of people will only be interested in this part of the book but I found the stories leading up to this part of this book more compelling. This section of the book deals of course with Zappos and how much blood, sweat and equity Tony poured into it in the beginning simply because he believed in it. He admits that many mistakes were made but through everything lessons were learned and ultimately Zappos became the success we all know it as today.
The Review
Delivering Happiness is a book I would gladly recommend to anybody interested in not only entrepreneurship but also looking for inspiration, determination, motivation and stories of overcoming failure to become successful and believing enough in yourself and your team to finish what was started.
I found myself not being able to put this book down and because Tony and not a ghost writer authored Delivering Happiness you can really feel and hear his words coming through the pages as what he is saying feels extremely authentic and genuine.
Hearing Tony recount his stories and his struggles had be hanging off each and every page and even though I knew the outcome of the book I still found myself hoping that on the next page he would find the success he was driven to achieve. Tony honestly seems like one of the few people who genuinely cares about those around him and his stories about his own life are fascinating. He is the type of individual who I would love to sit down in a pub with, have a few beers and listen to the stories of his life and just absorb the knowledge contained within them.
There are plenty of lessons contained within the pages of Delivering Happiness that can be learned, taken and then applied to your life or your business but one of the most important lessons that I believe I have learned was that nice guys don’t have to finish last. Running a successful company based on core values and principles is possible and that helping others be happy is a successful business plan.
Before reading this book I never would have thought about ordering a pair of shoes online and I know this wasn’t a goal of the book but after reading about the Zappos story and more importantly the Tony Hsieh story this is a company I would want to do business with simply based on their business practices.
I believe that even though authoring a book was just one of Tony’s bucket list items the Zappos brand has just been elevated to the next level because of this book.
The Verdict
Whether you purchase this book Amazon (not an affiliate link) or from your local bookstore you just need to purchase this book. There are far to many good stories about being successful in life and in business for this not to added to your summer reading schedule.
