Alrighty so here’s my review. It didn’t take long to read this book. It’s a conversational, enjoyable read. As business books go I’d give it a B+. That said, it’s worth reading. The company follows through on it’s promise to WOW customers through great customer service. In fact when they told me I’d get an ARC to review, they sent two, one for the giveaway. Plus a personal message. Nice. WOW worthy? Maybe it would be had I been a paying customer.

Delivering Happiness
Today they sent me a hardcover version. Eeek. I feel guilty because I haven’t written up my promised review. On the other hand, I haven’t written my promised review, and they are sending me another free book. So I have a guilty conscience, and I’m looking around wondering, do they know I haven’t yet written my review? Hmm. That just feels a little bit, um, creepy.
It’s the WOW thing again. Am I WOWed? Well certainly the promotions have wowed me. But this isn’t something a publisher is likely to do for most other books. Let’s face it, the author of this book has some very deep pockets, and I have no doubt he’s paying for this.
But I’ll not let that color my review. Back to the book. Enjoyable and quick — like I said. The first part of the book is storytelling about just how the young Tony Hsieh found himself a gazillionaire at the ripe old age of twenty-six. The cynical old codger in me wants to point out that being born to very smart parents in Marin County at exactly the right time, and being a very smart kid, and going to very good schools had something to do with it. But he was also a kid who had business success on his mind from a very, very young age. And through some early business experiments he learned good lessons on the way up. Hsieh took risks many wouldn’t have, and he likens business to poker, saying that the lessons of poker also apply to many aspects of business. As in poker, Hsieh and his partners and investors almost lost it all, but stuck it out and did what had to be done to bring his current company, Zappos.com to the billion dollar success story it is today.
I had never heard of Zappos until the announcement that they were bought in a stock for stock deal by Amazon.com this year. Hsieh and his partners are still at the helm of the company, and still hope to maintain the unique company culture they’ve created. What’s all that got to do with the book? Everything. This book “Delivering Happiness” is the manifesto of the Zappos culture. The second half of the book tells us about how the company culture evolved and what it does for the company, it’s employees, business contacts, and bottom line. He discusses in detail the ten core values:
- Deliver WOW through Service.
- Embrace and Drive Change.
- Create Fun and a Little Weirdness.
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-minded.
- Pursue Growth and Learning.
- Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication.
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit.
- Do More With Less.
- Be Passionate and Determined.
- Be Humble.
So, not exactly reinventing the wheel, right? That’s why he says that the core values are easy for employees to commit to, and to enact in their daily work habits. Because these are the kind of core values that they would use in their personal lives as well. I was impressed with the extensive training plans that Zappos has for it’s employees and how those are tied to concrete advancement in the company. In my own experience I know I have worked for companies that have promised training that never materialized, and they didn’t have measurable goals that employees could achieve and point to when review time rolled around.
But he takes the philosophy further, than the company values, the playfully weird culture, the stress on WOWing the customer. He wants to change the world! How? Crowdsourcing. Yep. You and me. Well it’s not a bad idea. Spreading happiness.
I have to laugh a little, he’s still a young man, he’s wildly successful. He’s used his positive attitude to surround himself with like-minded positive people. I suppose that optimists of this kind are all a little naive, or seem so. But who are we to rain on the parade of a winner?
The book doesn’t really break that much new ground as business books go. It’s up beat, and has some good advice told in a new way by a new generation. Is it worth reading. Yes. I enjoyed it, and it made me think about doing business in a better, more positive way.
Incidentally, the Delivering Happiness blog does a much better job of telling you what this books is about that I just did. And all this crowdsourcing must be working because on day one of the launch the book was at number one on Amazon, and by day three, they had run out of books! (Today they are back in stock and at a still phenomenal #10.)
And now two of you can enjoy it too—for free! I’m keeping the hardback copy, but I have two softcovers to give away. Just comment here, or use the contact page to send me your email. Be sure to mention Delivering Happiness. I will ship anywhere in the US for free. Anywhere outside the US for whatever the cheapest shipping cost is. First two requests gets them! See? It’s starting already. I’m delivering happiness too. (And my karma is restored. Phew!)
Tags: Amazon, book, book publishing, Delivering Happiness, marketing, Tony Hsieh, Zappos