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Delivering Happiness
- A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
- Narrated by: Tony Hsieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
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Delivering Happiness
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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.
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Editor reviews
Tony Hsieh is a really nice guy. This is what makes him a very unusual CEO, which is what makes his company so interesting. It also makes him a writer who doesn't use much corporate lingo, and a terrifically casual reader of his own book on the growth and development of Zappos, his unique company. One part memoir, one part philosophy, one part corporate handbook, and all silly optimism, Delivering Happiness will appeal to a surprisingly wide audience.
Hsieh begins with his business history, which adequately conveys his wackiness. First, there was the worm farm in elementary school. All the worms escaped, and he lost money. Then there was the mail order button business in middle school, so successful that he passed it along to his younger brothers in succession. In high school, he learned a bunch about programming, thereby combining his instincts with an appropriate knowledge base. He laughs out loud at his own computer club lunchtime antics, and so will you. Then there was the pizza business in his dorm at Harvard, where Hsieh found innovative ways not to attend any classes, and a high-paying corporate gig after graduation where he once again did as little as possible.
This is a man who likes to take business risks, and as he explains how he made decisions that caused him to grow from slacker into a Red Bull-pounding, 24-hour working machine, you'll be amazed that it sounds like he's smiling the entire time. From his first major start-up, which was subsequently sold to Microsoft, to his repeated close calls where Zappos almost went under before it was eventually bought out by Amazon, this true story of one man's corporate odyssey will leave you believing that anything really is possible. It will also at least make you want to shop at Zappos, if it doesn't make you want to move to as Vegas to work there.
Shot through with brief guest-narrations using the actual participants relevant to Hsieh's fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, there are a wealth of memos, emails, and testimonials that all serve as evidence to his weird intellect. And if you played a drinking game where you drank a shot every time Hsieh mentions having a drink, you'd be drunk before the book is half finished. From the tone of his voice to the story he tells, this is clearly a guy who needs his work to be fun and challenging. Just as Zappos has done, Hsieh's book casually fires the opening volley in a new era of corporate culture and management.
This eye-opening treatise on how to be happy at work has the added bonus of an hour-long conversation between Tony Hsieh and Warren Bennis, who has been universally considered one of the most significant leadership gurus for the past 40 years. Much of what Hsieh says is a more concise version of what he says in the book, though insights from the aging but still hilariously astute Bennis do offer something extra exciting. They discuss happiness in a way that is useful to all people, not just corporations. Megan Volpert
What listeners say about Delivering Happiness
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Simon Browning
- 29-06-16
inspirational book. highly recommended.
an insight into building one of the World's most customer centric companies and how to build the culture that delivers such high levels of service. the author Tony Hsieh describes in detail how he created 1 multi million company that sold to Microsoft but where the early fun culture had changed. taking this learning and seeing seeds of a great company in Zappos he charts the early struggles with financing, cash flow, and ultimately creating a culture that is the envy of many organisations before doing a deal with Amazon. suitable for any business looking to differentiate through service.
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- Ivan
- 16-07-21
Extremely valuable life and business lessons.
This book contains a short biography of Tony (the first half) and business lessons in building Zappos (second half). I would especially recommend to anyone who wants to build a great culture in a company.
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- MP
- 06-02-16
A great book !!!
If you could sum up Delivering Happiness in three words, what would they be?
Honesty, Integrity and trust. I found this book very interesting in many ways. But main reason is the way how author describes his story and himself in various situations of his life.
What other book might you compare Delivering Happiness to, and why?
There are many out there. I would rather not to do it. Every book is unique..
Which scene did you most enjoy?
Developing the right culture in a company.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
It is possible to be happy and deliver results.
Any additional comments?
Nice job.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-06-16
Great book
really enjoyed the content and delivery of this. some really great insights and very interesting culture content.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Raye7
- 11-03-17
Pink world
the book is mainly about the positive outcomes rather than the challenges faced to reach this outcome.
Example the acquisition by Amazon negotiations happened through 7 months.. however the book only focuses on the 1st email send.. then very detailed info about the acquisition announcement and celebration .. but not what happened within...
That's why I preferred "That hard things" book.. it gives you real expectations of the entrepreneurship journey.
However, I can't ignore that the chapter related to the organization's culture and recruitment was very imformative and usefeul, and I would apply the learnings in my own startup
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- Niall Marshall
- 27-02-17
Inspiring story of how to do customer service
impressive story. inspiring. Authentic. And a comfortable length. Nice anecdotes on how they obsessed with customers and how they focused on company culture to drive great customer service and great results every day.
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- Melanie Harris
- 21-07-15
Happiness delivers high performance
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. Absolutely. I spent my early years working in organisations where the style of management was bullying and sexual harassment. I remember being so stressed I would vomit in the toilet before going into to work. I now spend my time delivering high performance training to build behaviours in leaders, managers and teams to create productive, empowered and happy teams. I love how zappos have turned this into a living working example of success.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Tony Hsieh
Which character – as performed by Tony Hsieh – was your favourite?
Himself
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Inspired and motivated
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- David
- 18-03-15
Inspiring
It's great to hear the voice of the author. Tony transmits so much from the tone & style of his narration, about how he really is.
Trying inspiring book
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- Veronica
- 12-08-20
fabulous
best combination of practical examples with theory, Tony had the best ideal to write thus book.
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- Spencer Lea
- 11-02-19
Rare page turner
I wanted to keep listening chapter after chapter. There aren't many business books that are page turners - this is one of them.
Interesting book brought to life by stories and anecdotes. Found some the culture parts in the middle of the book a bit creepy ( started to sound like a cult - that feeling quickly passed as I listened on) but you can't fail to admire the authors total faith in his approach and the success of Zappos. The Zappos focus on customers and culture will become the norm in 20 years time I'm sure.
3 things that stuck with me after reading it:
1. You can find a way to solve any problem if there is enough at stake.
2. Offering new employees $2,000 to leave after they complete their initial training is genius.
3. I wish I'd started my own company when I left University.
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1 person found this helpful