Delivering Happiness

A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

By: Tony Hsieh

Narrated by: Tony Hsieh

Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

In this, his first audiobook, Tony Hsieh - the widely admired CEO of Zappos, the online shoe retailer - explains how he created a unique culture and commitment to service that aims to improve the lives of employees, customers, vendors, and backers. Using anecdotes and stories from his own life experiences, and from other companies, Hsieh provides concrete ways that companies can achieve unprecedented success. Even better, he shows how creating happiness and record results go hand-in-hand.

He starts with the "Why" in a section where he narrates his quest to understand the science of happiness. Then he runs through the ten Zappos "Core Values" - such as "Deliver WOW through Service", "Create Fun and A Little Weirdness", and "Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit" - and explains how you and your colleagues should come up with your own.

Hsieh then details many of the unique practices at Zappos that have made it the success it is today, such as their philosphy of allocating marketing money into the customer experience, thereby allowing repeat customers and word-of-mouth be their true form of marketing. He also explains why Zappos's number-one priority is company culture and his belief that once you get the culture right, everything else - great customer service, long-term branding - will happen on its own.

Finally, Delivering Happiness explains how Zappos employees actually apply the Core Values to improving their lives outside of work - and to making a difference in their communities and the world.

©2010 Tony Hsieh (P)2010 Hachette

Muy buen libro, mucha inspiración

No pude parar de leer desde que comencé, lo terminé en menos de dos semanas. Una historia que debe ser conocida y muchos elementos para aplicar en la vida personal y empresarial

Inspiring down to earth story

Really interesting to get Tony's background story and how Zappos company and culture has been created and evolved over time.
A lot of great takeaways like: book club, creating happiness, fire customers, pay out employees that does not fit , have a "career path" inside the company and trust the employees!
Much better to hire the right persons than trying to change them.
What I miss is more practical applications of all the ideas - but still this is a very good book.

Left a lasting impression

If you could sum up Delivering Happiness in three words, what would they be?

Uplifting Easy Profound

What does Tony Hsieh bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Tony brings a personal edge that can't be replicated in print. His messages and meanings come across perfectly as does his dry witt.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Oh yes, a few laughs.

Any additional comments?

I took away lessons I hope I never forget. It set the benchmark so far for me and got me hooked on audiobooks for good.

Great book!

I found that the longer I listened, the more I liked and learned from Tony. Really interesting book and made me think, which I like :)

amazing

great book, great in site to e-commerce and customers relations. recommended to my staff for a great read

Too much filler, not enough guts

What did you love best about Delivering Happiness?

I was really interested in how they created the culture and customer experience at Zappos. That content is definitely here, but there's a lot of meandering around to get to it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like that Tony wrote this book without a ghostwriter, but it definitely does show in the pacing and amount of "filler" content. I don't need to read word-for-word emails that you sent (several times throughout a book). Just tell me the cause and effect.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

While I admire that the author wanted to narrate his own words, I found his tone to be much too monotone and sleepy. I found myself constantly wanting to move ahead and get to it.

I want to join the cult!

This book was such a validation to me. I've never started and sold huge companies and sold them for tons of money but it sure is wonderful to see that I think along the same lines as someone who has does all that. It's hard to be an employee, know the right way to do things and see the opposite happen. It's incredibly reassuring to know that there are other people out there who believe in creativity, being a real human being at your job, speaking plainly, solving problems even if they are not your problems, caring about what your customers think of you, and having big dreams for the project you are working on, is the right way to go. It's hard when there are so many examples of people stepping on employees, treating them as interchangable cogs, delivering the least amount of work to reap the most profit, being considered "successes." Here Tony reminds us what success really is, and profit doesn't always define success. There are two kinds of workers in this world. Those that can and do, do a good job because they find it fulfilling, and those who can't or don't, and decide to make their life's work a shell game of delivering just enough and politicking enough to move their way to success. I very much fall in the first category and so do the people of Zappos. I'm glad to see this permeating throughout Zappos and as their employees move on, or train, it will spread to other corporations. As it can rot from the top, so can it grow. Tony sounds like the guy you'd want as your neighbor and I thank him very much for writing this book. Now I'm reassured that it's OK to care, and do it the right way long-term, even if at times I might feel like the odd man out.

Required reading for all corporations

If you could sum up Delivering Happiness in three words, what would they be?

Inspiring, educational, fun.

What other book might you compare Delivering Happiness to and why?

4 Hour Work Week, Seth Godin books, and Good to Great as they all emphasize a radically different approach to business than the traditional methodologies of the last few decades.

Which scene was your favorite?

Tony telling of his childhood and starting his first mail order button business.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Great book

Would you listen to Delivering Happiness again? Why?

I am sure I will revisit this book in the near future. There is too much good information interwoven into the captivating story. I know what I learned from this book will be helpful in my everyday life, like coming up with my personal list of core values, as well as in my future entrepreneurial endeavors.

Great book I got many ideas from it.

Great book I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in creating a great culture.