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## Outline Heading Subheading --- --- H1: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose A brief introduction to the book and its author, Tony Hsieh H2: The Journey of Tony Hsieh How he started his entrepreneurial career with a worm farm, a pizza business, and LinkExchange H3: The Sale of LinkExchange Why he sold his company to Microsoft for $265 million and what he learned from the experience H3: The Birth of Zappos How he joined Zappos as an investor and advisor and later became the CEO H4: The Challenges of Zappos How he faced various obstacles such as cash flow problems, inventory issues, and culture clashes H4: The Success of Zappos How he turned Zappos into a billion-dollar online retailer by focusing on customer service, company culture, and happiness H2: The Core Values of Zappos What are the 10 core values that guide Zappos and how they are implemented in the company H3: Deliver WOW Through Service How Zappos goes above and beyond to delight its customers and create loyal fans H3: Embrace and Drive Change How Zappos adapts to changing market conditions and encourages innovation and creativity H3: Create Fun and a Little Weirdness How Zappos fosters a fun and quirky work environment that allows employees to express their individuality H3: Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded How Zappos supports risk-taking, experimentation, and learning from mistakes H3: Pursue Growth and Learning How Zappos provides opportunities for personal and professional development for its employees H3: Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication How Zappos promotes transparency, feedback, and trust among its team members H3: Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit How Zappos creates a sense of belonging and camaraderie among its employees H3: Do More with Less How Zappos strives for efficiency, productivity, and profitability without compromising quality or service H3: Be Passionate and Determined How Zappos inspires passion and determination in its employees to achieve their goals and vision H3: Be Humble How Zappos values humility, gratitude, and respect in its leaders and employees H2: The Science of Happiness How Tony Hsieh applies research from positive psychology to running a business and living a fulfilling life H3: The Three Types of Happiness What are the differences between pleasure, passion, and purpose and how they affect our happiness levels H3: The Happiness Framework How to use the four Ps (perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness, and vision/meaning) to increase our happiness H2: The Future of Zappos How Tony Hsieh envisions the future of Zappos as a platform for delivering happiness to the world H3: The Holacracy Experiment How Zappos adopted a self-organizing system that eliminates hierarchy and empowers employees H3: The Downtown Project How Tony Hsieh invested $350 million to revitalize downtown Las Vegas and create a community of happiness H2: Conclusion A summary of the main points of the book and a call to action for readers to deliver happiness in their own lives ## Article # Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose Delivering Happiness is a book by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, an online shoe retailer that was acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009. In this book, Tony shares his personal and professional journey from starting his first business as a kid to building a billion-dollar company that is known for its exceptional customer service, company culture, and happiness. Tony reveals the secrets behind his success and shows how anyone can apply the same principles to their own businesses and lives. He also explains the science of happiness and how it can be used to create more value for customers, employees, shareholders, and society. In this article, we will summarize the main points of the book and provide some key takeaways for readers who want to deliver happiness in their own lives. ## The Journey of Tony Hsieh Tony Hsieh was born in Illinois to Taiwanese immigrants who wanted him to become a doctor or a lawyer. However, Tony had a different passion: entrepreneurship. He started his first business when he was nine years old: a worm farm. Unfortunately, the worms died after a week and he had to refund his customers. He tried again with a pizza business when he was in college at Harvard. He learned how to make pizzas from scratch and sold them to his dorm mates. He made a decent profit, but he also realized that he didn't enjoy the actual work of making pizzas. He wanted to create something more scalable and innovative. He found his opportunity when he met a friend who had an idea for a website that would allow people to advertise their websites on other websites. They called it LinkExchange and launched it in 1996. The idea took off and soon they had millions of users and hundreds of employees. They also attracted the attention of Microsoft, who offered to buy them for $265 million. ### The Sale of LinkExchange Tony agreed to sell LinkExchange to Microsoft, but he soon regretted his decision. He felt that the company had lost its vision and culture, and that he had sold out his passion for money. He was unhappy and bored at Microsoft, and he decided to quit after six months. He learned a valuable lesson from this experience: money alone cannot buy happiness. He realized that he needed to find something that he was passionate about and that had a higher purpose than just making money. He also learned that he needed to create a company culture that aligned with his values and vision, and that would inspire and empower his employees. ### The Birth of Zappos After leaving Microsoft, Tony invested in several startups, one of which was Zappos, an online shoe retailer. He joined Zappos as an investor and advisor, and later became the CEO. He saw the potential of Zappos to revolutionize the online shopping experience by offering a wide selection of shoes, free shipping, free returns, and a 365-day return policy. #### The Challenges of Zappos However, Zappos faced many challenges along the way. They had cash flow problems, inventory issues, and culture clashes with their suppliers and partners. They also had to deal with the dot-com crash, the 9/11 attacks, and the 2008 recession. They had to make tough decisions, such as moving their headquarters from San Francisco to Las Vegas, laying off some employees, and outsourcing their fulfillment operations. #### The Success of Zappos Despite these challenges, Zappos managed to overcome them and achieve remarkable success. They grew from almost no sales in 1999 to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008. They also became one of the best companies to work for in America, according to Fortune magazine. They achieved this by focusing on three things: customer service, company culture, and happiness. ## The Core Values of Zappos Zappos has 10 core values that guide its decisions and actions. These core values are not just words on a wall, but are lived and practiced by every employee at every level of the company. They are: ### Deliver WOW Through Service Zappos strives to deliver WOW through service by exceeding the expectations of its customers and creating loyal fans. They do this by offering a wide selection of shoes, free shipping, free returns, a 365-day return policy, a 24/7 customer service line, surprise upgrades, handwritten notes, flowers, cookies, and more. They also empower their employees to use their own judgment and creativity to WOW their customers. ### Embrace and Drive Change Zappos embraces and drives change by adapting to changing market conditions and encouraging innovation and creativity. They do this by constantly experimenting with new ideas, products, services, processes, and technologies. They also welcome feedback and suggestions from their customers and employees on how to improve their business. ### Create Fun and a Little Weirdness Zappos creates fun and a little weirdness by fostering a fun and quirky work environment that allows employees to express their individuality. They do this by having themed days, parties, parades, contests, games, jokes, pranks, costumes, music, dancing, karaoke, and more. They also hire people who are not only smart and talented but also fun and a little weird. ### Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded ## The Core Values of Zappos Zappos has 10 core values that guide its decisions and actions. These core values are not just words on a wall, but are lived and practiced by every employee at every level of the company. They are: ### Deliver WOW Through Service Zappos strives to deliver WOW through service by exceeding the expectations of its customers and creating loyal fans. They do this by offering a wide selection of shoes, free shipping, free returns, a 365-day return policy, a 24/7 customer service line, surprise upgrades, handwritten notes, flowers, cookies, and more. They also empower their employees to use their own judgment and creativity to WOW their customers. ### Embrace and Drive Change Zappos embraces and drives change by adapting to changing market conditions and encouraging innovation and creativity. They do this by constantly experimenting with new ideas, products, services, processes, and technologies. They also welcome feedback and suggestions from their customers and employees on how to improve their business. ### Create Fun and A Little Weirdness Zappos creates fun and a little weirdness by fostering a fun and quirky work environment that allows employees to express their individuality. They do this by having themed days, parties, parades, contests, games, jokes, pranks, costumes, music, dancing, karaoke, and more. They also hire people who are not only smart and talented but also fun and a little weird. ### Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded ### Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded Zappos supports risk-taking, experimentation, and learning from mistakes by being adventurous, creative, and open-minded. They do this by giving their employees freedom and autonomy to try new things, challenge the status quo, and find better ways of doing things. They also celebrate failures as opportunities to learn and grow. ### Pursue Growth and Learning Zappos pursues growth and learning by providing opportunities for personal and professional development for its employees. They do this by offering various training programs, coaching sessions, mentorship programs, book clubs, speaker series, and online courses. They also have an apprenticeship program that allows employees to learn new skills and advance their careers within the company . ### Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication Zappos builds open and honest relationships with communication by promoting transparency, feedback, and trust among its team members. They do this by sharing information openly and frequently, encouraging honest and constructive feedback, and resolving conflicts respectfully and effectively. They also use various communication tools and platforms, such as internal wikis, blogs, newsletters, surveys, and social media. ### Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit Zappos builds a positive team and family spirit by creating a sense of belonging and camaraderie among its employees. They do this by organizing team-building activities, events, outings, retreats, volunteer opportunities, and recognition programs. They also foster a culture of collaboration, cooperation, and support among different teams and departments. ### Do More with Less Zappos strives for efficiency, productivity, and profitability without compromising quality or service by doing more with less. They do this by optimizing their processes, systems, resources, and budgets to eliminate waste and maximize value. They also encourage their employees to be resourceful, frugal, and entrepreneurial in their work. ### Be Passionate and Determined Zappos inspires passion and determination in its employees by aligning them with the company's vision, mission, purpose, and core values. They do this by communicating their goals clearly and frequently, celebrating their achievements regularly, and rewarding their efforts generously. They also empower their employees to pursue their passions, interests, and dreams within and outside the company. ### Be Humble ## The Science of Happiness Zappos applies research from positive psychology to running a business and living a fulfilling life. Tony Hsieh believes that happiness is not only a goal but also a means to achieve other goals. He also believes that happiness can be learned and cultivated by following certain principles and practices. ### The Three Types of Happiness According to Tony Hsieh, there are three types of happiness that affect our happiness levels: - Pleasure: This is the type of happiness that comes from satisfying our senses, such as eating, drinking, shopping, or having sex. It is also the type of happiness that is most influenced by external factors, such as money, status, or fame. Pleasure is short-lived and fleeting, and it can lead to addiction or hedonic adaptation if we rely on it too much. - Passion: This is the type of happiness that comes from being fully engaged in an activity that we enjoy and are good at, such as playing a sport, a musical instrument, or a video game. It is also the type of happiness that is associated with flow, a state of optimal experience where we lose track of time and self-consciousness. Passion is longer-lasting and more fulfilling than pleasure, but it can also lead to burnout or boredom if we don't balance it with other types of happiness. - Purpose: This is the type of happiness that comes from being part of something bigger than ourselves, such as a cause, a mission, or a vision. It is also the type of happiness that is related to meaning, a sense of why we do what we do and how it contributes to the greater good. Purpose is the longest-lasting and most satisfying type of happiness, but it can also lead to frustration or disillusionment if we don't align it with our values and actions. Tony Hsieh suggests that we should aim for a balanced mix of all three types of happiness in our lives, and that we should prioritize purpose over passion and passion over pleasure. ### The Happiness Framework Tony Hsieh also proposes a framework for increasing our happiness based on four factors: - Perceived Control: This is the extent to which we feel that we have control over our lives and our outcomes. We can increase our perceived control by setting realistic goals, making choices, taking action, and accepting responsibility. - Perceived Progress: This is the extent to which we feel that we are making progress towards our goals and improving ourselves. We can increase our perceived progress by tracking our achievements, celebrating our milestones, seeking feedback, and learning from our failures. - Connectedness: This is the extent to which we feel connected to other people and have positive relationships with them. We can increase our connectedness by expressing gratitude, giving compliments, offering help, sharing stories, and building trust. - Vision/Meaning: This is the extent to which we feel that we have a clear vision for our future and a meaningful purpose for our present. We can increase our vision/meaning by discovering our passions, defining our values, articulating our mission, and aligning our actions with them. ## The Future of Zappos Zappos envisions the future of Zappos as a platform for delivering happiness to the world. Tony Hsieh believed that Zappos could expand beyond selling shoes and clothing to offering other products and services that would make people happy. He also believed that Zappos could use its culture and values to inspire other organizations and communities to adopt a similar approach. ### The Holacracy Experiment One of the most radical experiments that Zappos undertook in pursuit of its vision was adopting holacracy, a self-organizing system that eliminates hierarchy and empowers employees. In 2013, Tony Hsieh announced that Zappos would transition to holacracy, which he described as "a new way of running an organization that removes power from a management hierarchy and distributes it across clear roles, which can then be executed autonomously, without a micromanaging boss". The idea behind holacracy was to create a more agile, responsive, and innovative organization that would unleash the potential of every employee. Instead of having managers and subordinates, employees would have roles and accountabilities that they could define and change as needed. Instead of having departments and silos, employees would form self-managing circles that would collaborate and coordinate with other circles. Instead of having top-down decisions and policies, employees would have dynamic governance and transparent rules that they could propose and amend through a structured process. The transition to holacracy was not easy or smooth. It required a lot of training, communication, and adaptation from everyone involved. It also faced resistance, confusion, and skepticism from some employees who preferred the traditional structure or felt uncomfortable with the new system. Some employees left the company voluntarily or involuntarily during or after the transition. According to Zappos, about 18 percent of its employees took a buyout offer in 2015 as part of the holacracy rollout. The results of holacracy at Zappos are mixed and debatable. Some employees and observers praise holacracy for fostering more autonomy, creativity, collaboration, and happiness among employees. They also credit holacracy for enabling Zappos to launch new initiatives, products, services, and experiments faster and more effectively. Others criticize holacracy for creating more complexity, confusion, bureaucracy, and frustration among employees. They also blame holacracy for hurting Zappos' performance, culture, and customer service. Zappos is still using holacracy as of 2021, but it has also made some modifications and adaptations to suit its needs and preferences. For example, it has reintroduced some elements of hierarchy and leadership, such as having a CEO (Kedar Deshpande), a board of directors, and a senior leadership team. It has also developed its own version of holacracy called "Zappos Adaptive Organization" or "ZAO", which incorporates some additional principles and practices that reflect its core values. ### The Downtown Project Another ambitious project that Zappos embarked on in pursuit of its vision was the Downtown Project, an initiative to revitalize downtown Las Vegas and create a community of happiness. In 2010, Tony Hsieh announced that he would move Zappos' headquarters from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas, which was then a rundown area with high crime rates and low economic activity. He also announced that he would invest $350 million of his own money to transform downtown Las Vegas into a vibrant hub of entrepreneurship, innovation, arts, culture, education, and entertainment. ### The Downtown Project Another ambitious project that Zappos embarked on in pursuit of its vision was the Downtown Project, an initiative to revitalize downtown Las Vegas and create a community of happiness. In 2010, Tony Hsieh announced that he would move Zappos' headquarters from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas, which was then a rundown area with high crime rates and low economic activity. He also announced that he would invest $350 million of his own money to transform downtown Las Vegas into a vibrant hub of entrepreneurship, innovation, arts, culture, education, and entertainment. The idea behind the Downtown Project was to apply the same principles and practices that made Zappos successful to a larger scale and context. Tony Hsieh believed that