Rework Hardcover – March 9, 2010

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.

I tend to agree with a lot of the philosophies expressed, but there is very little meat here behind them. The whole book is just 1-2 paragraph statements about different ideas they have about workplaces. Almost none are supported with specific examples, data, or even much detail.Maybe just a personal opinion, but I don't think it's worth buying. At least take a look at a preview first - the whole book is the same format...

This book has endless contradictions. They start by saying “only work 40 hours per week, if you work more then it’s because you like to work” then they say “save money and do everything yourself”.The only way to run a successful business and work reasonable hours is to hire people to do time consuming jobs.They basically just brag about how awesome their company is throughout the whole book. Did I just buy a 270 page sales pitch for business software?

This book was an easy read. Which can be very good. However, with only one page on a topic it felt very shallow. There was no evidence to back up any of there rules, only anecdotal observations. Don’t get me wrong, I agreed with about 80+% of it. Just would have been nice to have strong arguments for their “rules”.

It's a good book, by authors who clearly practice they preach. It helped me with some of the mental blocks I had as an entrepreneur like "I must have top-notch UX to launch with or else", or "I must get as many features out on day 1 because I will get no chance for a do-over". It also finalized my decision NOT to spend my time and money on trying to obtain funding and rather concentrate on delivering a good MVP and constant improvements. One thing I think the book gets wrong is its approach to office space and remote working. It'll work if you know the team and if they're a good match, but my experience shows me that if you're a non-technical founder and you're just "looking for outsourced work" to do the work for you remotely, there's an 80% chance you'll throw money on absolutely nothing. If you're a non-technical founder -- get a technical founder to be the center of the dev work, and expand outward slowly and carefully. Ideally with local people rather than outsourced strangers you've never met.

This book completely changed my view on how to work in a business and build a start up. It's an extremely fast and easy read with very simple to follow examples which most anyone can apply to their daily lives.I've been able to apply the principles of this book to organizations ranging from nine people to organizations with thousands of people and they scale just fine given the right train of thought.If you're someone who wants to gain some strong leadership insight and discover what it means to have an entrepreneurial spirit, this is it.

Easy read. But wait, each quick-chapter packs a bunch.. powerful lessons that can seriouslyenhance the way business is run. Some of these lessons I 'sort of' had in the back of my headfor years... like why do so many meetings suck, or why certain business leaders I'd workedclosely with were 'fast decision makers' and more. I love how each chapter gives an example,sometimes real world business example, to illustrate the point.

I wouldn't follow all of the advice given if your target market is large companies. Many of these places will demand the exact things this book teaches you to avoid.As a small biz owner and entrepreneur, I find this book to be a perfect match. Every page is filled with great advice. Much of it is common sense for someone like myself, but it's reassuring to read it from a 3rd party source. The rest was eye-opening and I intend to force myself to live with this entire book in mind.I've already recommended it to a few people, and I intend on continuing. This book and I are so in-tune that I could have written it in a couple years.

Quite often a dilemma in business is whether to follow what we consider tried and tested thinking and methods or do you do it your own way. Rework resets your traditional thinking and asks key questions about your business including if you need an office. Quite rightly he proposes that there is NO value in meetings and business plans and we consume large amounts of irrecoverable time dealing with them.The lifeblood of the book is, make it easy, make it fun and make money. Cut the ego and furnishings out of your business and deal with harsh reality. Hansson and Fried obviously hate waste including words, so the style of the book is short and snappy with real gems of advice on every page. They are very generous with their advice which makes them worth listening to. My only contention is the time we spend on our businesses. I absolutely believe if we’re unproductive, working long hours, hating life, and have no time for socialising or family, then that’s a major problem. But, I love my business and while I don’t need to do it for more than 8 hours per day, I love to do it for more than 8 hours per day. I’m probably more in the mould of Gary V. Reminds me of the quote “I’ll do today what you won’t, so I can do tomorrow what you can’t.”

Read this book cover-to-cover in 53 minutes.Filled with excellent plain english advice, it's one of the best books out there for business productivity.Not big on references, but the authors are credible because they built 37Signals, which created Basecamp and Ruby-on-Rails.A damning critique of old school business types who favour endless meetings, reports, hierarchies and strategic plans.If you like this also read: 'The 4 Hour Work Week' and 'Steal Like An Artist' - equally inspired.

Be warned: this is a book that encourages you to read in sound bites. Mind you, the way things are going, we are all adapting to a 3m30s attention span, so perhaps this is just a sign of the times.There's also a lot of white space; but then again, I recently went through an information mapping course that says that this is a good thing, so who am I to judge? I would say that around 30% of the book is space of one kind or another, and that the average 'chapter' length is about 3 pages (I've not actually measured this, by the way.)So, why the 5 stars? Because every word is well-crafted, well-chosen, and easy to both digest and engage with. Don't be like some others that I've come across and miss the point of the book; it gives the illusion of just being a collection of blog posts, but if you scratch beneath the surface and imagine applying their advice right now, you'll find that the questions it makes you ask of yourself and your organisation lead to rapid improvements.Warning: It *will* change the way you think about work, and change the way you work as well, if you let it!

Read this as part of training at a new company and loved it - quick read, chapters are quite short and while a lot of it you may already know, it reminds you to keep it at the forefront of your mind. Some great short mantras and points made per chapter. Simple read but thought provoking and truthful - if we all worked the way this book recommends then people would be a lot happier!

Although there is no 'system' to Rethink, there is a method and a style. The method is to take no sacred cow or status quo for granted but to put all to a thoroughly pragmatic test. The style is to whittle each point down to a bare minimum and then rush on to the next. Rework is about bite rather than depth, practice rather than theory. But it would be wrong to place it in a motivational mould, neither is there one overriding motif beyond a challenging of orthodoxies in a fresh and positive way. Unless you count a love of leanness as a theme.I liked it for two reasons. Firstly, it contains some insights that I thought but didn't have the confidence to say or try. After all, I don't have an MBA, so what could I know? For instance, under 'Hiring', the authors decry the worth of resumes and the usefulness of anything over six months of experience. Also, in 'Takedowns', I always suspected that learning from failure is overrated, planning is a synonym for guessing, and working yourself to death is dumb on so many levels.Second, it filled my mind with a ton of fresh little experiments to try out in my own business. I especially found this to be the case under 'Competitors' ("decommoditize" or personalise your produce making copying impossible, and "pick a fight" with a big boy in order to contrast yourself with it and make a splash) and 'Promotion' (give away a little free stuff, build an audience not just a cliental, and, most brilliantly, "out-teach your competition" to establish your expertise and trustworthiness). For me, as a trainer, this last point sunk home.There was an interesting and surprising emphasis on the power of writing through the book. For instance, they contrast optimal business writing with formal or academic writing (216). A criterion for hiring a quality employee, all else being equal, is the standard of their writing; it is a sign of clear thinking and empathy (222). When writing, sound like yourself, not some wannabe lawyer or corporate robot (263); this sort of everyday behaviour will create the right culture from the bottom up.I would say that Rework is an ideal read for entrepreneurs (especially new starts), the self-employed and owners of SMEs. Those who work FOR someone rather than ON their own enterprise might find it a little shallow or all-too-easy sounding. Even then, the chapters on 'Productivity' and 'Damage Control' are applicable to any workplace. For those of us in the entrepreneurial (oops - 28) trenches it's a tonic; while not quite a tool box, it's certainly a box of tactics, tricks and twists on SOPs that make you want to experiment immediately. It may even shake up the thinking of some old campaigners out there.Yes, it is thin on detail. Yes, some of the pics seem designed merely as space fillers. (A quirky but relevant diagram for each point would have served far better.) I found myself disappointed at the 'Resources' section, which was just a couple of lists about the authors' business and products. But as a call to action, experimentation and the overturn of many business clichés and customs, I found it highly valuable. I will be reading it and using it again. There's hardly a better recommendation than that.