Rework

I have never read a book like this in my life. I loved it. But it was not what I expected. This is a book of off-grid business principles and strategy -- not actionable step-by-step instructions. The tone, voice, and style are atypical for a professional business book, which makes it unique. I believe this is the author's point well-made. It's easy reading, personal, and very provocative. My one complaint is that there is not always justification for their claims. There is a lot of straight talk, which for me, were points well-taken. I get it. Some have said the book sounds arrogant. Well, okay. You're entitled to that opinion. But honestly, I didn't take it that way at all. I felt they were passionate about the points they made. It had a very forward tone. One thing I will mention is that perhaps some of their points needed more "proof". But the style was refreshing for me, personally. I enjoyed reading it. As a business book, it breaks all the rules. And that is precisely the point. If you're looking for a book giving you step-by-step instructions on how to build a business -- this is not the book for you. Many who expected this were disappointed. This is not a traditional book by any standard. It's not a book that provides "how-to's". It's a book of principles. The key for the reader is being able to take their principles, evaluate them, and mold it to your individual business model with a strategy that fits. If you can't do that -- you're going to hate this book. It's not going to tell you what to do -- it's giving you fundamental principles to apply. Not all of these principles will work for every business. It would be foolish to think they would. A lot of successful companies don't follow these principles at all. Time-honored truth reveals there's more than one way to do things, and every business is different. But what I appreciate is that 37Signals found their niche in the business world, realized they had achieved something great, had something different and unique to offer -- and shared it with the business world in a style all their own. It's brave. It's bold. It's even brash, perhaps. But this book is not gospel. So don't take it as such. For me, there are pearls of wisdom here that cannot be ignored. And some of their advice is so risky, it needs to be evaluated carefully if embarked upon and applied. But if it worked for them -- in their own right, they can claim it and share it. And that's precisely the message of this book. The book is persuasive, but don't read it blindly. Carefully consider their points and consider the possibility of applying them successfully. In closing, do yourself a favor -- get the book. It really is worth it. But have the proper expectations. My advice would be this: Don't start a business or organization of any kind until you have read this. Every CEO needs to read this. Every employee needs to read this. Every entrepreneur needs to read this. Do you have a job? You need to read this. Do you work? You need to read this. A first-grader could read this. Super easy. Super fast. Super information. I believe everyone needs to read this. Yes, everyone. And once you do, I bet you'll read it again. Five stars. Well-earned.

One of my biggest gripes about the early reviews to come out about Rework is that they had no substance. Words like "inspirational", "brilliant", and "rethink" generally trigger my BS alarm, so I really didn't know what to expect with Rework. I've been reading Signal vs. Noise, the design and usability blog by 37signals, for a few years now, and I've had plenty of time to become acquainted with Jason and David's style. That I even refer to them by their first names should clue you in to their style. They come across in writing as they do in their live webcasts and presentations: familiar. Point is, I've been irked by the longest by those vapid early reviews to come out. They meant nothing to me. Hopefully you'll find this review more much helpful for determining whether or not Rework is worth your time. TL;DR Version: Buy the book if you have no idea what 37signals stands for. If you do, expect SvN on paper. Long Version: If you've never heard of 37signals or read Signal vs. Noise and you're a business owner or someone who needs to buy a book for an "entrepreneur" (Jason and David prefer the term "starter"), then this is a pretty good book to purchase. It's 273 pages, but most of that is filled with white space and somewhat relevant artwork (almost too much artwork, really), so it's an easy read. From start to finish I spent just over a few hours reading Rework, and I'm no speed reader by any stretch of the imagination. Don't expect to be blown away by any revolutionary ideas, either. One of the early reviews to come out said, "The clarity, even genius, of this book actually brought me to near-tears on several occasions" (Tom Peters, New York Times bestselling author). I don't want to bad mouth the guy, because I don't know him, but that's some wicked crazy rad hyperbole. This is a simple book that's just a by-product of the blog. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are someone who is very familiar with 37signals and has spent a considerable amount of time reading the blog, then don't feel like you need to pick up this book immediately. Don't get me wrong, $12 (or however much it costs when you buy Rework) is entirely worth it, if even just to have some good night time reading material. But if you think that Rework will bring you any additional insight into 37signals beyond what is available online, then you are thinking incorrectly. Rework felt like a package of SvN blog posts from 2007 to 2009. I'll explain why in a bit. The Major Takeaways: If you're strapped for cash and still want to take away lessons from this book, just read the table of contents and then cross-reference those words with the 37signals blog. Jason and David do a heck of a job being straightforward about what they are writing about. For example, "Ignore the real world" (page 13) can be found on their website. In fact, a whole bunch of their content from Rework can be found on their website. To wit: "Learning from mistakes is overrated" (Rework, page 16): "Learning from failure is overrated" (Feb. 3rd, 2009)(SvN) "Planning is Guessing" (Rework, page 19): "The Planning Falacy" (Jun. 12th, 2009) (SvN) "Workaholism" (Rework, page 25): "Fire the workaholics" (Mar. 7th, 2008) (SvN) "Enough with 'Entrepreneurs'" (Rework, page 28): "The word entrepreneur and its baggage" (Apr. 22nd, 2009) (SvN) "Scratch your own itch" (Rework, page 34): "What's your problem?" (Getting Real) "No time is no excuse" (Rework, page 40): "There's always time to launch your dream" (Mar. 10, 2009) (SvN) "Outside Money is Plan Z" (Rework, page 50): "Fund yourself" (Getting Real) And that's just the first 50 pages! You see where I'm going with this. If you are an avid reader of 37signals and have kept up with them for 6-12 months, then most of what you read in Rework will simply be a regurgitation of what's already been written online. That's why the early reviews really irked me. Is this book insightful? Clearly. Is it legendary or tear-worthy? Give me a break! The grand language is really making me distrust books, and if I didn't already know the great work that 37signals does or if I were not already a long time customer with 37signals, I wouldn't have bought this book. The flowery language of the early reviews just made me expect the world from Rework, and all I really got was the hardcover form of Signal v. Noise, with better edits and word choice. I wouldn't write this long, rambling review if I wasn't passionate about the line of work that 37signals is in. I owe much of my organization and peace of mind to 37signals products, so count me as one of the 37signals "audience" members. I think Rework is an exceptional book in that it serves as a reminder of many of the lessons and "recipes" that Jason and David have given us through the years. It is definitely worth the money if you have not already internalized much of the lessons contained in the Rework table of contents. If you have, and you are an avid fan of Jason and David already, then there's really no need to read Rework unless you have some extra time on your hands. And to Jason and David, if either of you actually read this review, then I hope in your next book you'll ditch the early BS reviews. That's my main gripe. If you want to recycle SvN from 2009-2011 and turn it into a book called ENHANCE! in 2012, that's fine by me. I'll be the first one in line to read it; but know that I, and many other readers, will expect to see the same stuff that we've already read on the blog. I love the work you two do; I mean I REALLY love the work that you two do. But come on. Don't set me up for the stars and then throw glitter in my face. All in all I give Rework a 7/10. It's worth a read if you have no clue what 37signals stands for. Even if you do, buy the book for a friend or out-of-touch boss.

Great reading. Changed the way I see business.

I don't really view this as a how-to book or one that proclaims to be something revolutionary. Instead, its a couple of guys giving honest advice on starting a business. It's aimed at taking the butterflies out of your stomach, giving you a different perspective on obstacles that might be in your way, and starting you down the path of starting your own business. They don't have any formulas for success or roadmaps for you to follow, just really good advice. I was worried this book might be slanted toward the software business (which I have no interest in), but that wasn't the case at all. No matter what type of business your interested in starting, or even if your already running one, this book will provide a lot of good tips and motivation. With that said, they do have software and tech example used to highlight their points, but I never felt like they where preaching to a certain type of startup at the expense of excluding others from the conversation. Whenever they included examples from their own company (or others), I felt the examples where appropriate, unbiased, and never aimed specifically at software startups. They just had good, open-ended examples that enabled you to see how things could work for your own company, no matter what type of company your starting/already own. I never felt the topic of software or tech dominated the conversation. In addition, the writing style and organization of the book made it enjoyable to read as well. They didn't try to interject humor, sarcasm, fluff, or be over the top in an effort to make the book more interesting. The writing style is really good, the topics interesting, and it moves along at a good pace. Very well done and worth the read.

Over the years I have bought and read well over 300 business books. Books on business strategy, management, entrepreneurship, starting-up, turning-around, marketing, sales, you name it. I've read the works of acclaimed masters, such as Peter Drucker. I've also read those of lesser minds who have never started or run a real business themselves but will gladly sell you their guesses and "secrets" about how you should do it. The thing I've found most business books to have in common is that they can over-complicate a restroom break. They're also, generally, not right for small-to-medium sized and start-up businesses. They're impractical, potentially harmful and, in my opinion, should include side-effects warnings like we see on television. REWORK, on the other hand, was written by real business owners who've been there, done that, and lived to tell about it. They know what kind of problems arise, what causes them, and how to prevent or solve them. The authors actually own and manage a profitable, multimillion dollar "small" business. What's more, they still have time for personal lives - go figure! They break the old rules, write new ones, and prosper as a result. The facts affirm that their approach to running a small business is nothing short of brilliant. REWORK is a very easy read. It gets right to the point, much to my delight. The authors present their knowledge of what works, and why, in bite-sized chapters. The content is entertaining as well as informative. Their methods work. Their advice is solid. Their message is clear. If you fail to get this book, you'll almost surely regret it many times over. My advice: buy the book, read it and go to the [...] website to see their principles in action. I did and I'm forever changed. To answer the unasked question, I have NO affiliation whatsoever with the authors or anyone else at 37signals. Only a great deal of, well-deserved, respect.

The Twitterverse was abuzz when 37Signals released their Rework book (complete with availability from Amazon.com, and even in the Kindle format). At first I refrained from listening to any hype; but with a quick glance at the back matter, I found myself a button click away from immediate Kindle satisfaction. Topics like "meetings are toxic" and "planning is guessing" hit pretty close to home with my previous job at Travel Tribe... so I clicked the button. I had actually owned 37Signals' previous book (Getting Real) for some time, but failed to crack open the PDF. With some spare time on my hands this go-round, I started to read through Rework on my PC before wrapping it up on my Kindle. Rework is a culmination of good, bad and ugly. It's not really a book. It's a collection of inspiring essays with the 37Signals team talking at you. The book is an extremely quick read filled with opinionated business talk, but most of it is well informed and very pragmatic. Many of the tenets are things that I've just been discovering just recently. Rework goes against the grain because the quality of writing is intentionally poor. It's not that the ideas are unclear. It's that the book wasn't written to be a business book that tops any charts. It's written as if spoken. It's written clearly and directly - straight to the point - and doesn't let business manual fluff (or proper writing style) get in the way. As a book of axioms, Rework hits a ground rule double. It might not score you any runs initially, but it'll at least advance the runners. It's up to your own hard work to bring them home. After reading Rework, I decided I liked it enough to finally give Getting Real a try. This was my mistake. As it turns out Rework is just Getting Real minus a few chapters, minus all the quotes, and rewritten so as to speak more directly in its prose. Rework is essentially a "reworked" Getting Real. This was disappointing to find out. I was able to glean a few pearls from the dropped material between the reissue, but for the most part, I was just reading something that had already been out for a while. Say what you want about 37Signals, but they've been able to build a successful business using their philosophy (which is found in these books). There is certainly a lot of "I wish we did things that way" in these books. Well, 37Signals has done it that way, and they've been very successful with their products, while Ruby on Rails has helped turn them into the golden children of web 2.0 programming. I recommend you forget about Getting Real and instead take an evening to read through Rework. If anything it's a fun look at what a successful small business thinks makes a successful small business philosophy.

If you are looking for a flowing book that goes on with you by reading passively think twice! this is an immense number of notes, tips and business hacks that are all put together under one cover without being mixed or intentionally linked one to another. Each part does not build on the other and the is the beauty of the writing style, you would never be lost, you wouldn't really need to highlight anything as it is t very concise short and has no fillers; this is the type of book that you keep on the desk to refer to time after time, and around many subjective management topics you can find an opinion. Some Highlighted parts: Don't listen too much to our customers. Hold meetings where the problem is, not in meeting room. Invite as few as possible. Divide problems and projects into pieces small enough to easily estimate time and effort required. Make short lists to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Prioritize visually, with next task at top of list. Make attainable goals. Use tiny decisions to work through even large projects. Don't copy competitors. Deco modify your product. Pick a fight. Do less and be easier to use. Prioritize visually. Don't watch competitors. Create something new. Say no by default. Use the power of no to get your priorities straight. Be true to a type of customer rather than to specific customers. Don't confuse enthusiasm with priorities. Build an audience by teaching customers rather than paying for advertising. Be open about your processes, flaws and opinions. This will create more credibility than trying to appear perfect. Press releases are spam. Phone reporters. Cultivate bloggers and writers for trades rather than general publications. Use Free-mium model. Everything is marketing. Hiring ;don't hire someone until you've tried to do the work yourself. Hire only as a last resort. Ignore resumes. Check cover letter. Look for 6 months+ experience, as after that the learning curve flattens. Hire managers of ; self-directed people who can set their own goals and reach them without help. Hire great writers. Give applicants a brief assignment to see if they are a good fit. Damage control ;tell your customers when there's a problem. They will respect you more than if you try to hide it. Get back to people quickly. Value their time. Expect them to object to change. Good work environments result from trust, autonomy, &privacy. Don't require approval. Send people home at five. Don't create policies because one person did something wrong once. Sound like you. Speak and write simply. Avoid jargon and buzz words. Don't imply ultimatums or demands by using words like need, must, can't, etc

I found the first few chapters, "Takedown" and "Go" which are focused on entrepreneurialism and startups, to be less interesting. But the last 2/3 of the book is the type of crystal-clear, simply-stated, pure truth that you've come to expect from 37 Signals. Rework is packaged full of unconventional thinking about how companies can take alternative approaches to hiring, competitive analysis, product development and corporate marketing. If you are a CEO, Product Development or Marketing executive at small and midsize business, you should consider the ideas in Rework. My only criticism is that much of the content in the second half of the book was highly repetitive with the authors' earlier work "Getting Real." If you haven't read Getting Real (then you should), but the repetition will be less of an issue for you. But even if you have read Getting Real I still would recommend Rework, because the ideas around productivity, competitors, hiring and culture are so powerful that they are worth reading twice (if not 100 times). Some of my favorite concepts (paraphrased) from the book are: Avoid getting suckered into a "one-upping, Cold War mentality" with competitors. You are not going to out-Apple Apple. You can't beat someone who's making the rules. You need to redefine them. If you are trying to decide among a few people to fill a position, hire the best writer. Being a good writer is about more than writing. It is about clear thinking and communication. Marketing is not a department. Every time you answer the phone, it's marketing. Marketing isn't just a few individual events. It is the sum of everything you do. Don't scar on the first cut. If someone wears shorts to the office one day just tell them not to do it again. Avoid the temptation to go create a policy around dress code. The book is almost 300 pages, but it is extremely quick to read. So there are no excuses for not taking 2 hours to go through it. Approximately 1/2 the pages in the book are blank or artwork so there is no reason to be intimidated. The author's writing style makes reading purely enjoyable. In fact, I turned off a movie on the plane to read this instead. I read the hard copy, but I would recommend buying the digital download so you can take it with you anywhere you go.