Delivering Happiness (DH) was written by Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos)
I read DH back in May. It was the first pick of the newly launched Biz-erkeley Book Club and I was excited to read it even though I wasn’t a Zappos customer. I’m one of the odd women who doesn’t adore shoes. However, I do know some raving fans of Zappos, and they really do RAVE!
As I started to read it I must admit that I was disappointed. It was all biography and I expected more business how-to. Fortunately, the insider’s look into Tony Hsieh’s youth finished about half-way through and I was able to get the insider’s look into creating a culture (some might say cult) that is in fact committed to customer delight. I truly appreciated Tony’s (I don’t know him, but since I don’t have an editor from the New York Times, I don’t feel obligated to say Mr. Hsieh) honesty about the really tough times when getting financing was hard or he lost interest in an earlier business and could barely get out of bed. Even the move to Las Vegas from the San Francisco Bay area, which as a Berkeleyan, I find nearly unimaginable, seemed reasonable given their circumstances!
But the lasting piece for me, was signing up on the book website and following the Delivering Happiness Facebook page. I signed up to be a Very Happy Person (VHP) on their website.
Talk about customer engagement and leveraging a platform!
Yesterday I got an email from the team at DH and they are promoting doing good and happy things by being a Very Happy Holiday Person. You can get a ‘badge’ (which is surprisingly motivating) by doing 5 things from a list of holiday happiness like:
* Donate cans to food organizations
* Write a holiday greeting (or two) to someone in need
* Call someone you love that you haven’t talked to in a while
* Take pictures of Holiday Happiness spotings and share on Facebook
Talk about big purpose!
The book has certainly spawned a bigger movement and even a separate organization for delivering happiness.
Happy Holidays and Much Happiness throughout the year to you and your family!