It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson · 2018
The authors of Rework on running a calm software company: sane hours, small ambitions, and no hustle for its own sake.
This is the follow-up to Rework from the same two authors, written eight years later. It is the more settled of the two books, and its subject is how a software company can work without constant pressure.
What it’s about
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson argue that the frantic culture common in software companies, with its long hours, endless growth targets, and always-on messaging, is a choice and not a requirement. They draw on their own company, 37signals, the maker of Basecamp, which has stayed small and profitable for over two decades.
The book is made of short chapters, like Rework, and their themes are consistent. Treat time and attention as scarce. Prefer clear writing to constant meetings and chat. Keep working hours sane. Don’t chase growth only because growth is expected, and treat a business that is profitable and calm as a success and not a stepping stone. They offer practical rules and also an attitude: ambition is fine, but not at the price of your people’s lives.
Why it belongs on coldboot
Software is built by people, and how they are asked to work shapes what they make. Read next to the stories of rushed, deadline-driven projects in the 1980s articles, this is a deliberate counterexample.
Keep in mind
It is advice drawn from one company’s experience, written by its founders, and a small, profitable product business is easier to run calmly than many others. Some readers will find the confidence a little much. The ideas are best taken as a sharp argument, not a formula.
Edition linked: hardcover (HarperBusiness, 2018).