Delivering Happiness

Happiness as a Fractal
According to Merriam-Webster, a fractal is “any irregular curves or shapes
for which any chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller
part when magnified or reduced to the same size.”
Here is one example of a fractal (Winter Wonderland, by Dr. Ken
Schwartz):

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One of the properties of fractals is that if you zoom in or zoom out, the
picture looks the same or very similar. According to Wikipedia, many
natural objects have fractal-like properties, including clouds, mountain
ranges, lightning bolts, coastlines, snowflakes, various vegetables
(cauliflower and broccoli), and animal coloration patterns.
I think the parallels between what the research has found makes people
happy (pleasure, passion, purpose) and what the research has found makes
for great long-term companies (profits, passion, purpose) makes for one of
the most interesting fractals I’ve ever come across.
At first glance, the patterns generated by geometric fractals may appear
infinitely complex, but it’s often just a simple mathematical formula that

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generates them.
Similarly, setting out to create a great long-term company may seem to
be an overwhelmingly daunting task at first, but using happiness as an
organizing principle can help guide you along the way.
E
ven though writing a book was one of the things that I wanted to check
off of my list of things to do, this book wasn’t written just for that reason.
And even though this book will serve as a handbook for future Zappos
employees (and maybe get us a few additional customers as well), this book
wasn’t written for the benefit of Zappos either.
I wanted to write this book for a different reason: to contribute to a
happiness movement to help make the world a better place.
My hope is that through this book, established businesses will look to
change the way they are doing things, and entrepreneurs will be inspired to
start new companies with happiness at the core of their business models,
taking with them some of the lessons I’ve learned personally as well as the
lessons that we’ve collectively learned at Zappos. My hope is that more and
more companies will start to apply some of the findings coming out of the
research in the science of happiness field to make their business better and
their customers and employees happier.
My hope is this will not only bring you happiness, but also enable you to
bring other people more happiness.
If happiness is everyone’s ultimate goal, wouldn’t it be great if we could
change the world and get everyone and every business thinking in that
context and that framework?
I don’t have all the answers.
But hopefully I’ve succeeded in getting you to start asking yourself the
right questions.
Are you working toward maximizing your happiness each day?
What is the net effect of your existence on the total amount of happiness
in the world each day?
What are your values?
What are you passionate about?
What inspires you?

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What is your goal in life?
What are your company’s values?
What is your company’s higher purpose?
What is your higher purpose?
When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny.
—B
ERTICE
B
ERRY
I
hope reading this book has inspired you to…
… make your customers happier (through better customer service), or…
… make your employees happier (by focusing more on company
culture), or…
… make yourself happier (by learning more about the science of
happiness).
If this book has inspired any of the above, then I’ll have done my part in
helping both Zappos and myself achieve our higher purpose: delivering
happiness to the world.

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