This past weekend I finally got around to reading Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson the founders of 37signals and creators of Ruby on Rails. Without question the 37Signals folks are absolutely brilliant. By all accounts they’ve created a sustainably great company and incubated on of the most influential frameworks for building web applications.
Rework is a very quick read – I was through it in less than 3 hours. Unlike Freakonomics, Outliers, or Predictably Irrational or Jim Collins’ seminal Good to Great which are culled from extensive research and case studies from multiple different entities, Rework is based exclusively on what worked at 37Signals. On one level I felt like the book really should have been a blog post or maybe a niche website. On the other hand there is value in being able to consume the information in an evening and move on.
There are about 90 1-2 page vignettes based on the founder’s personal experience. While their opinions are certainly valuable some of it felt like “Motherhood and Apple Pie” – common sense ideas such as “decisions are temporary.” I like a lot of the underlying thinking about doing something, no matter how small, now rather than holding out for something bigger. I get the distinct feeling that the 37Signals folks embrace the minimalist mindset – do what is on the immediate horizon, execute quickly, get feedback, start over. This is the heart of an agile life-cycle. As I think about it much of this book is their recipe for success as a small, profitable business where every employee must be willing to pitch in whenever or wherever it’s needed.
Much of what works for 37Signals would not work at Microsoft, Apple, or more established companies. In particular the sections on meetings, planning, and estimating will most often work best in a small company. On the other hand, the sections on Hiring, Damage Control, and Culture could work anywhere. I think of the best insights in the book is the advice to “Hire Great Writers.”
I am really glad that the guys at 37Signals took the time to put this together. As someone who was a principal in a similarly sized professional services firm that was not as successful as they were I am keenly aware of how much they’ve accomplished. If you superimpose the tenants of Good to Great, which I appreciate are based on lessons from big companies, with the Rework model there is a clear roadmap for success. Most importantly I see three direct ties:
- Level 5 Leadership: to implement the 37 Signals model
- First Who, Then What: Simply put no small company can succeed with anything but top notch talent. The best idea won’t succeed without the right team and conversely a great team can produce a very successful company out of a small idea.
- Hedgehog Concept: Identify what makes you money, what you can be the best in the world at, and where your passion lies.
Bottom line this is a worthwhile read with valuable insights for anyone who manages software teams or delivers web-based products or services.
