"It's always interesting just to learn different perspectives, but to be careful of not trying to just say, 'Oh this book is the Bible, and we should copy that,'" Hsieh told Business Insider. "Instead, I want us t0 take the parts that make sense for Zappos and try to incorporate them."

Hsieh shared with us the four books he's recommending to everyone at the moment.

'Start with Why' by Simon Sinek Penguin Random House

It's why, for example, Apple was able to dominate the mp3 player industry in the last decade despite the prevalence of many other quality devices on the market. It started its pitch to consumers with the why of having a mission to change the status quo and encourage creativity and then ended with the what of selling an iPod.

'Where Good Ideas Come From' by Steven Johnson Amazon

Author Steven Johnson argues in his 2010 book that innovation comes from the collision of ideas. This can happen when an individual working in isolation builds off years of existing knowledge to fuel his insights, or it can happen much more quickly when several creative types bounce ideas off each other in a community like Silicon Valley.

This theory is one of the reasons why Hsieh decided to invest $350 million of his own money in 2010 into the Downtown Project, which is building a community of entrepreneurs in Zappos' neighborhood.

'Getting Things Done' by David Allen Amazon

David Allen is a management consultant whose 2001 classic "Getting Things Done" has sold over a million copies, making it the go-to book on personal productivity for the past 15 years.

Allen updated it last year, but its main principles have held up well because they provide readers of all experience levels with tools to make decisions, plan their days according to top priorities, and stay focused on what matters.

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SEE ALSO: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh reveals what it was like losing 18% of his employees in a radical management experiment — and why it was worth it