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The Kingdom of Happiness: Inside Tony Hsieh's Zapponian Utopia

by Aimee Groth (Goodreads Author)

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T H said: " As someone who is familiar with the Downtown Project and has spent time with several people who were close to Tony (including longtime friends and business partners of 20+ years), it's clear that The Kingdom of Happiness is written in a compassionate As someone who is familiar with the Downtown Project and has spent time with several people who were close to Tony (including longtime friends and business partners of 20+ years), it's clear that The Kingdom of Happiness is written in a compassionate way that honors Tony’s spirit. Many of these confidantes told the author this behind closed doors. It’s an experiential, 5-year walk through the energizing and chaotic environment that was the Downtown Project—a visionary experiment in stakeholder capitalism that went awry for a variety of reasons. I believe the unstructured writing style is designed to reflect the undercurrent of the community and its collective psychology—and its desperate search to reclaim its soul after years of encountering meaningful challenges and traumatic events in the Nevada desert. Especially after seeing the news that is coming out in the years following Tony’s passing, in hindsight it’s apparent why the author chose to focus on the meta-view of the experiment and its lessons, and not risk over-developing the characters (though she had the access and built relationships across all levels of hierarchy). This was a smart and respectful approach, thanks to guidance from Tony himself, who wisely recommended that she use her own story and “walk through the Downtown Project” as a storytelling device.

After talking with the author, I learned even more about the great lengths she went to follow Tony’s broader philosophy and his personalized guidance for her book, which they collaborated on through a years-long partnership. This included following his direction to write the book in a pioneering style, layer genres, and take meaningful personal & professional risks to advance our collective empathy for entrepreneurs and what they go through emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, relationally, financially, intellectually to push society forward. As a prerequisite to understanding him more deeply, Tony asked the author to walk the entrepreneurial path herself, alongside everyone else. As a start-up founder and coach, I appreciate the way she conveys the entrepreneurial path as a walk in faith. It obviously took tremendous courage to warn Tony, a near-billionaire with meaningful societal influence, about his predicament and use her book to nudge the community onto a different path to reclaim its soul. Like Tony, this book was years ahead of its time. ...more "

May 27, 2023 03:28PM · see review