I broke one to Tony Hsieh – okay, not him personally, I suppose, because I don't actually know the founder of Zappos on a first-person basis – but to his person/empire, to review his new book, Delivering Happiness: A Guide to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. I was selected as one of the bloggers who was graciously given an advance reading copy in a huge PR effort, on the condition that I promised to post an honest review on June 7th, the book's launch date...but...
I didn't uphold my end of the bargain for varying degrees of reasons – I had just returned from a long trip abroad in Russia the week before, having went immediately back to work along with hosting house guests, battling jet lag mixed with a crazy-busy workload, followed by a blogspot.com technical malfunction occurring on June 7th of all days (lasting for over 36 hours!) which prohibited me from publishing any blog posts, and finally, culminating in a loss of my draft online– But. Excuses aside, now I need to make it right, albeit two months later. After all, the whole point of Delivering Happiness is to live life with purpose while pursuing what's passionate to you.
And what's inspiring to me, right now, is this book, and I want to share it with you.
Following a captivating memoir of his missteps and misadventures that got Tony where he is today – creating an earthworm farming business out of his parent's backyard, selling and delivering pizza by the slice taken from a whole pie at a mark-up to hungry college students, and starting up a .com biz that he eventually sells to Microsoft – what really resonated with me were the lessons he took away from playing poker that could also be applied to business or life:
Act weak when strong, act strong when weak. Know when to bluff.
Lord only knows I've played this strategy more than a few times in business. We're not telling you to be sneaky or untrue by any stretch. All this means is that you have to know how to behave a certain way sometimes in order to reach your end goal. (That's my interpretation, anyway, use your common sense, people.) "Act strong when weak" is pretty self-explanatory, but the "act weak when strong" bit may be more elusive to understand. For me, this has helped when I need someone to help me out (i.e. vendor to lower production costs, client to pay an outstanding invoice). I've often played the Good Cop in a good cop-bad cop scenario, for example, sounding distressed (true!) when I say that big bad Accounting will have my head if I don't manage this project better and that my hands are tied (partially true!). Let's just say, no one wants to throw me under a bus, so sometimes appearing weak just helps expedite what I need done, and quick.
You need to adjust your style of play throughout the night as the dynamics of the game change.
Be flexible! Be flexible be flexible be flexible! Learn by surrounding yourself with talented players.
I can't really speak for the benefits of this in the game of poker, however this has really rung true in my life. I've been exposed to so much useful knowledge just by working with smart, experienced people, and the one job in Miami where I had less than stellar team members, I'll always remember that as a unfortunately blank period in my working history where I did not grow much from that aspect of the job. Look for opportunities beyond just the game you sat down to play. You never know who you're going to meet, including new friends for life or new business contacts.
It may sound like common sense, but until you really put it into practice, you don't know how difficult this can actually be to work your connections and turn it into something meaningful! It's all about building your personal brand.
You have to constantly work at incorporating these things into your every day, or it's easy to forget. I was inspired to pass this book along to my younger sis, who was laid off from her job in management information systems (a career she despised anyway) back home in Florida. I thought the book might inspire her to think about alternative ways, off the beaten path, to find a career that balances purpose and passion in life (and hopefully, profit). Our conversation led to a fairly wild idea where I invited her to break free from the confines of Florida, stay with us in Chicago for several months and work an internship/volunteer/part-time job out here, while seeking her higher purpose in career and life. It was my brilliant life plan for my sis, but so far she hasn't taken me up on it yet... to be continued...
Thanks, Tony!
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