What I’m Reading: Tony Hsieh – Delivering Happiness

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and PurposeDelivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m a huge believer in putting your values at the core of what you do and that when you stand true to this, success follows. Tony Hsieh is a shining example of this and it was great to hear about his process of putting the science of happiness in action to deliver this gift to everyone he encounters (his coworkers, his customers). It also made me crave tuna melt sandwiches.

I also added the following books to my “To Read” list:

 

I love that one of his many initiatives was creating a Zappos library and providing reading incentives to all employees. I just found out that Amadeus has a library also stocked with many great reads – my company isn’t quite as strong on culture as Zappos (but then again, who is), but it’s great that they see the value and provide this perk. Starting to think about starting a reading group…

 

Even though to many I’m sure his insistence on creating a Tribe – and even going so far as to take over a residence building so they can all live amongst themselves sounds culty and weird, I’m absolutely sure there is something to this. I really think the loss of a core community is one of the issues that plagues our modern society (and fuels the current drug addiction epidemic). I long to find such a Tribe for myself and long for the days when my core group of college friends took over the bottom part of an apartment complex to live, study and play together.

 

I was also fascinated by his description of getting into rave culture and their mantra of “PLUR” Peace Love Unity Respect. I’ve never understood house/electronic music or dancing to it (except for one night where I totally tapped into it – and no, no drugs were involved). But other than that I’ve been fairly dismissive. But there’s something to this that really makes me want to give this whole culture another look…

 

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a psychology geek especially on finding purpose / happiness. I think that being prone to depression has made me necessarily spend a bit more time than someone who already has a baseline level of happiness. So of course, I loved Tony’s interest and application of this framework into his life and leadership. As a quick reminder:

 

Happiness Framework =
  1. Perceived Control
  2. Perceived Progress
  3. Conncectedness – number and depth of relationships
  4. Vision / Meaning – being part of something bigger than yourself

 

And finally, next time I go to the West Coast I am totally getting Tuna Melt & Chicken Noodle Soup at Mel’s.

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