Book: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos, the leading online retailer of what started out as shoes, but now includes clothing and other lifestyle goods.  The company has differentiated itself from the endless mass of online retailers by putting the customers first and delivering excellent service with each transaction.  I heard about Zappos a few years ago, when an Intel colleague forwarded an article about the company... I have kind of followed their progress from afar.  I have seen the website, but since I was simply browsing, I did not experience the kind of customer service the company has been lauded for.

Now on to the book...

This book was one of the giveaways from the Americas Sales and Marketing conference in February.  During one of the general sessions, the case study presented was on Zappos.  What a treat it would have been if Tony was there to speak (which he did in last years Americas Investors' Conference in Las Vegas)!  What we got was a video presentation AND this book.  Ok na rin... =)

I love this book.  I think every business owner/entrepreneur should read this and see how business can be done differently in this very competitive landscape.  Businesses are after all about serving the needs of people and they might as well be given the best customer experience possible...

This book is a history lesson on Tony Hsieh (how he started from growing worms to being CEO of Zappos) and Zappos, from its humble beginnings, including the cash-strapped days to it megastature today.  I appreciate Tony's honesty and openness in this book.  His personality and character are unlike what you would typically conceive of for CEOs.  He shares a LOT about the Zappos culture, it being the driving force behind the service.  This unique culture is the fuel that drives the ultimate goal of Delivering Happiness.  Tony wrote the book in order for individuals and other businesses to be inspired and have a framework towards starting their own happiness journey.  Check out http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com/.

Can you tell I'm a fan?

I encourage everyone to read this!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the Internet 12.09.11

Image
This week's notable links are related to world population.  I tend to be interested in a subject, read about it and discover these links. 7 Billion on National Geographic .  Special series on the world's 7B population, with stories and discussions.  They have a counter of world population as well. 7 Billion Actions .  A site where anyone can upload a story, highlighting positive action.  I was checking through the site and was encouraged by all the good work that people do.  Really, we can be hopeful.  It's just a pity that only the sensational negative stories get highlighted in the media.  Positive stories are found right here.  And thanks to the internet for making this possible. What's Your Number?   7 billion is an overwhelming number.  This site let's you enter your birthday and plots you on the population chart and identifies your specific number (datapoint).  Of course this is not perfect and employs some algorithm to estimate where you are on the cha
Read more

It's Not Complicated: Samson and Delilah, Ruth and Boaz

Image
The last two topics for the preaching series on love entitled 'It's Not Complicated' were on Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. ( Podcast here ) Samson and Delilah .  The story of Samson and Delilah can be found in Judges 13.  Before Samson was born, his mother was visited by an angel who said to her, "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razorbecause the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  Samson was destined to lead and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But we know that his life was far from simple.  He made personal decisions that changed the course of his life, including marrying Delilah, which eventually led to his death.  It's a tragic story and Pastor Joe explained why it happened to Samson - wrong place, wrong standard, wrong person. Samson, although he was set apart as a Nazirite, spent time in Philistin
Read more

Filipino Friday 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Image
Reading Habits and Book Formats . Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks? I am old school.  Even as most books now have digital versions, I still prefer the physical, ink-on-paper variety.  I like holding a real book, flipping the pages and being able to see my progress based on the thickness of read/unread pages.  Somehow, I feel more engaged and focused reading a physical book vs. from a gadget. I very rarely reread books so most of my collection just sit on the shelf after I'm done with them.  I feel it's a waste of precious trees if they are not shared with others.  So I started a Google doc at work where the team can list down their collections and anybody interested in
Read more