I like shoes. Always have, always will.
Now, I’m no Imelda Marcos…but I want to make sure whatever shoes I wear match my mood and my man-wear. That’s why when I had the chance to write a review of Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness, I jumped at the opportunity. You see, Hsieh (pronounced “shay”) is best known as the CEO of Zappos, a website that sells a lot of shoes. As mentioned, I dig shoes. So I asked if Eventualism could have an advance copy to look through, figuring the site was a shoe-in.
And it was.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose is not just a “sole-full” read (as in shoes are mentioned quite a bit) but a soulful read (as in it really digs deep and goes beyond what a normally autobiography/business book would). It’s divided up into three sections, examining Hsieh’s early years and eventual rise. Then he delves into more of the business model that garnered Zappos such a great reputation. Finally, he discusses taking things to the next level – both in terms of what he’s done and what he invites the reader to do.
Now you all know how I feel about reading – so the fact that this book was easily digestible gives it big bonus points. There’s plenty of anecdotes throughout and the reader gets to see right from the start how friendships would fit into the Zappos model down the road. Hsieh really seems to value his friendships and this comes across plainly and simply. His eventual rise from a tester at Oracle to founding LinkExchange (where he turned down a few offers to sell that others might have jumped at) until his landing at Zappos is chronicled at a brisk pace, but detailed well enough so that the reader has a sound knowledge of where Hsieh came from. Then you get see where he’s going.
Zappos is a pretty neat place. Not just to shop at, but to work at. The work culture developed there just seems to foster goodwill and harmony – and their customer service has a reputation of being second to none. There’s nothing really eventual about Zappos – which suits me fine because I like my shoes to arrive faster than I would arrive in them.
There seems to be a lot of talk about how Hsieh wasn’t really up to selling Zappos to Amazon (as outlined here), but to be fair he’s still involved and now he’s got a book that talks about how the culture he helped build within Zappos can be adopted by others who wish to, well, deliver happiness.
All in all, Delivering Happiness is a good read. It’s not a traditional business book, which is refreshing. It’s not a traditional autobiography, well, because it hasn’t entirely been written yet. Hsieh seems to have a lot more up his sleeve – maybe even a follow-up that digs a bit deeper into some of the ways one can take action and make the culture happen as opposed to just showing that it did.
Some would call Hsieh an astute businessman. Some would say he’s a visionary of sorts. Some would say he’s an author of a very good book that’s bound to help a lot people.
Well, if the shoe fits…and it does…I’d be one of the “some.”
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