欧宝娱乐

It's not often that I sit down and devour an entire book in one day, but today I read Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos') new book 'Delivering Happiness' cover to cover.

Some of my favorite classes in college were the Entrepreneurship classes I took through the Wellesley/Olin/Babson consortium. Not only were we given hands on assignments that had us creating our own businesses, but we were also introduced to a large reading list of inspirational books, and perhaps most importantly we encouraged to continue the habit of reading and learning, long after our classroom hours were over. I've read some particularly meaningful books about entrepreneurship, business, and personal development that have motivated me in the past few years - including Jim Collins''Good to Great', 'The 4-Hour Workweek' by Tim Ferriss, 'Tribes' by Seth Godin, 'Outliers' and 'The Tipping Point' by Malcolm Gladwell, to name just a few, and Tony Hsieh's new book 'Delivering Happiness' has earned it's place at the top of the list as one of my new favorites.

'Delivering Happiness' isn't a winded account of the history of Zappos (although frankly after reading it I'd be likely to read a thousand page book about Zappos), but an entertaining book written in Tony's own voice. It covers some of the key points in his own life and the history of Zappos giving us an idea of how they have come to be "The Happiest Place on Earth" (erm... sorry Disney World...Please Google this years Zappos April Fools video.)

Hsieh, (and by extension Zappos)has succeeded:

a) because of passion! (demonstrated vividly by personal anecdotes of childhood businesses including a wormfarm, and a personalized button company to name a few. Zappos has succeeded because a company culture is part of the passion of all of the employees.)

b) because of creativity (Hsieh demonstrated success by thinking outside of the box - Zappos culture aims to empower and reward (everyone) for creativity and finding ways to adhere to their core values. The book is full of fun anecdotes of how individuals in Zappos were given control to make their jobs fun.

c) because of a pursuit of happiness : Zappos wasn't just a job, for Hsieh it was a calling - working hard for something he believed in was one way to stay passionate and engaged in his life.

Take homes that I find particularly useful:

1. Find and cultivate passions and develop a lifelong learning habit. Know when to quit - if you wake up every Monday dreading work, it might be a good sign of it being time to start something new.

2. Sage business advice - including questions to ask when hiring new employees, considering a new job, working with investors, or working with vendors.

2. The last section of the book is about the science of happiness - worthwhile to anyone who is interested in making their lives better and more fulfilling.

Side note: I managed to get an advanced copy because I was watching Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose's random video where each had spoken briefly about how much they enjoyed the book. I immediately acted to get my hands on one, and when I went to my local tea shop I frequent to sit down and start reading my book, I looked two seats to my left, and Tim Ferriss was sitting there doing work. I opted not to be a creepy fan girl this time, but now that I've finished, if I see him again, I'll extend my thanks for the recommendation.