Rework is written by the founders of 37Signals (best known for Basecamp and Ruby on Rails) Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Are the ideas in this book as radical as the authors claim and is the book so genius it will bring you to tears? Well, here are my thoughts.
“The clarity, even genius, of REWORK actually brought me to near-tears on several occasions.”
-Tom Peters, New York Times bestselling author of IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE
The only reason my tears were pouring was because i was allergic to the inc (honestly!). But then again, the book wasn’t really written for my target audience (i still think that Tom Peters guy is a softy though). Rework is, just as i like it, a quick read. Those 280 pages has a lot of white space and art work and an average chapter is about 1.5 pages.
If you are a reader of 37Signals blog ”Signal vs Noise” or have heard any of Jasons talks, then you’re probably familiar with the concepts presented in this book. And even if you are familiar with Jasons and Davids concepts I still think Rework is a good buy. It’s nice to have their thoughts distilled down and gathered in one place.
So, are their ideas that radical? No! Not at all. Most of them are in my opinion pretty obvious. But do companies really work in this way? Do they encourage their employees not to work overtime? Do they trust their employees enough that they can make independent dessisions? Do they recommend their competitors if they feel their products is not a perfect fit for the customer? I think most of them probably don’t. And if you work on a place like that, you should plant this book on his desk or bathroom. Or maybe if you work on a place where your boss micro manage every move you make and have his own bathroom you should get out of there and start something on your own.
If you are an entrepreneur, or a “starter” as Jason like to call it, then this book is a must. But remember to, as I’ve said before, read it with your critical eye. It’s easy to just swallow everything as absolute truths. Especially when they write in such confidence. As they themselves put it “get inspired, don’t copy!”
