Tag Archives: Tony Hsieh

What Poker Taught Tony Hsieh

Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness provides a roadmap to develop both employee and client satisfaction, focused on delivering happiness. It also includes business lessons from a successful entrepreneur that can be applied to our leadership journey, specifically if you are leading an organization.

Two takeaways for me.

  • Become a life long learner like Tony. Use your everyday experiences and use them to adapt. Tony was very good at applying life lessons to work.
  • A part of his book that really stuck with me was when he described his learnings from poker and the application to business. The lessons Tony presents are as follows:

Evaluating Market Opportunities

  • Table selection is the most important decision you can make.
  • It’s okay to switch tables if you discover it’s too hard to win at your table.
  • If there are too many competitors (some irrational or inexperienced), even if you’re the best it’s a lot harder to win.

Marketing and Branding

  • Act weak when strong, act strong when weak. Know when to bluff.
  • Your “brand” is important.
  • Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.

Financials

  • Always be prepared for the worst possible scenario.
  • The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
  • The guy who never loses a hand is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
  • Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
  • Make sure your bankroll is large enough for the game you’re playing and the risks you’re taking.
  • Play only with what you can afford to lose.
  • Remember that it’s a long-term game. You will win or lose individual hands or sessions, but it’s what happens in the long term that matters.

Strategy

  • Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.
  • Figure out the game when the stakes aren’t high.
  • Don’t cheat. Cheaters never win in the long run.
  • Stick to your principles.
  • You need to adjust your style of play throughout the night as the dynamics of the game change. Be flexible.
  • Be patient and think long-term.
  • The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
  • Differentiate yourself. Do the opposite of what the rest of the table is doing.
  • Hope is not a good plan.
  • Don’t let yourself go “on tilt.” It’s much more cost-effective to take a break, walk around, or leave the game for the night.

Continual Learning

  • Educate yourself. Read books and learn from others who have done it before.
  • Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.
  • Learn by surrounding yourself with talented players.
  • Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.

Culture

  • You’ve gotta love the game. To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it.
  • Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.
  • Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
  • Share what you’ve learned with others.
  • 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.
  • Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re trying to do more than just make money.

Tony Hsieh and Delivering Happiness

There will come a time when all servant leaders become conflicted with focusing on profits or people. Tony Hsieh (1973-2020) does a great job of telling all of us how to link profits, passion and purpose. As Jim Collins tells us, it is the genius of the “and”, focusing on profits “and” people and not the tyranny of the “or”, focusing on profits “or” people. If you have not read Tony’s book on Zappos, or have not ever heard of Zappos, pick up a copy of his book “Delivering Happiness”. So many great lessons from the book and a shame that Tony is not around today to continue his journey of bringing happiness to others. All too often, those focused so much on bringing happiness to others have a difficult time bringing happiness to themselves – I also think of Robin Williams.

Tony Hsieh – Delivering Happiness

There is a great section at the end of book where Tony goes deeper on his quest on Delivering Happiness. Tony tells us that, when you ask people what their ultimate goal is (by following a five why exercise), everyone only wants to become happier.

Tony tells us that happiness is about four things:

  • Perceived control – Tony’s way to do this was to implement a “skill set system,” giving out small raises as each employee learned and mastered each of 20 skill sets laid out by the company. Having clarity and control over their raises made employees happier.
  • Perceived progress – Tony changed the practice of one large promotion into smaller promotions given on merit every six months. Employees were much happier because there was an ongoing sense of perceived progress.
  • Connectedness – the number and depth of your relationships. Tony believed happier employees made more productive employees, so Tony was always thinking about how to foster socializing and friendships at work – with initiatives like discounted food and relaxation areas.
  • Vision or meaning – being a part of something bigger than yourself. As part of this Tony brings in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Once you attain happiness, it can consist of three types of happiness:

  • Pleasure – Shortest lasting and requires constant stimulation.
  • Passion – Being in the zone – time passes quickly.
  • Higher Purpose – Being part of something bigger than yourself . This is the longest lasting form of happiness.

What to do if you are able to find true happiness? You need to share it. Your happiness will never decrease by sharing it with others.

Courtesy of The Calm app