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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today.
In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day.
Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.
It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.
Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.
In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day.
Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.
It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.
Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2018
About the author
Jason Fried
19 books1,288 followersJason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Jason co-wrote all of 37signals books, and is invited to speak around the world on entrepreneurship, design, management, and software.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,124 reviews
November 17, 2018
You need to read this book. Actually, scratch that, your manager needs to read this book, and his or her manager as well. All the way up the ladder. This is more than just a book, it's a manifesto for sanity and calmness at the office.
Nearly every (two-page) section is gold. It reads quick, it's well-written, there's no extra fluff or padding. Just straightforward advice for how to run your company and culture to maximize happiness at the office, written by people who have been successful. This book puts into succinct words exactly what I've been saying to various people for years, it's so validating to see the co-founders of a successful business reiterate what I keep telling people, as well as giving me new annoying things to tell people who won't listen.
This book is a must-read, I recommend it to absolutely everyone. Even if you don't think it's "crazy" where you work, it's probably crazier than it needs to be. It's going to be a sad day 15 years down the road or whenever that Basecamp goes out of business and this book will just seem like a graveyard of great ideas. Please read it now while it still seems like good advice so that your organization can add to the voice it represents.
Nearly every (two-page) section is gold. It reads quick, it's well-written, there's no extra fluff or padding. Just straightforward advice for how to run your company and culture to maximize happiness at the office, written by people who have been successful. This book puts into succinct words exactly what I've been saying to various people for years, it's so validating to see the co-founders of a successful business reiterate what I keep telling people, as well as giving me new annoying things to tell people who won't listen.
This book is a must-read, I recommend it to absolutely everyone. Even if you don't think it's "crazy" where you work, it's probably crazier than it needs to be. It's going to be a sad day 15 years down the road or whenever that Basecamp goes out of business and this book will just seem like a graveyard of great ideas. Please read it now while it still seems like good advice so that your organization can add to the voice it represents.
March 18, 2019
The premise of the book is wonderful: we chase growth at all cost and the human cost of that is real.
However, I can't shake some feeling of arrogance that permeates the book. Points are mostly anecdotal and all the examples of practised 'calm' are from their own company or individuals who work outside of an organization (the reference section is suspiciously thin). Come on, it's not so radical to not work yourself to death that no-one else in the world practises it. The authors are in a privileged position with a subscription model and no externally imposed deadlines. That’s the exception and it’s not acknowledged. There are great, actionable insights in the book—but the style is offputting. "Slack" is an example of a book on the same topic that is much better written. The book reads like a great history of building a company under quality-of-life first principles. However, the book is an attempt to attack a wider scope without greater support. It could've been more honest with itself.
All that said, this is a book that needs to exist and will likely have a larger impact on the sometimes toxic tech work culture than most existing material outside—so I applaud the effort into an approachable read on the subject!
However, I can't shake some feeling of arrogance that permeates the book. Points are mostly anecdotal and all the examples of practised 'calm' are from their own company or individuals who work outside of an organization (the reference section is suspiciously thin). Come on, it's not so radical to not work yourself to death that no-one else in the world practises it. The authors are in a privileged position with a subscription model and no externally imposed deadlines. That’s the exception and it’s not acknowledged. There are great, actionable insights in the book—but the style is offputting. "Slack" is an example of a book on the same topic that is much better written. The book reads like a great history of building a company under quality-of-life first principles. However, the book is an attempt to attack a wider scope without greater support. It could've been more honest with itself.
All that said, this is a book that needs to exist and will likely have a larger impact on the sometimes toxic tech work culture than most existing material outside—so I applaud the effort into an approachable read on the subject!
October 12, 2018
Fried and DHH are once again offering a clarion call from The Future; ignore it at your peril.
This is essential reading if you've ever thought that the millenial badge of honor, being busy beyond belief, may actually be a foolish road to ruin. If you're wise enough to know that your best work is not output at hour 12, 10, or even 8. If you're fed up that the potential of your brilliant teammates is being squandered.
It's easy to critique norms and far harder to illuminate other paths, and the emphasis of this book is on the latter. As always, I appreciated their succinct, clear writing style. I really appreciated that they admit how many failed ideas they tried before finding what worked for them. Unlike a lot of get-rich-quick companies who stumble into a madly profitable sector and then conclude that it was their unique secret sauce that got them there (Amazon, Google, etc), Basecamp clearly lives and breathes a spirit of kaizen.
And although I can already hear the skeptics saying, "That's great for them but it won't work here...", I suggest you read this and apply just one of its practices to yourself or your team. I think you'll be happier.
This is essential reading if you've ever thought that the millenial badge of honor, being busy beyond belief, may actually be a foolish road to ruin. If you're wise enough to know that your best work is not output at hour 12, 10, or even 8. If you're fed up that the potential of your brilliant teammates is being squandered.
It's easy to critique norms and far harder to illuminate other paths, and the emphasis of this book is on the latter. As always, I appreciated their succinct, clear writing style. I really appreciated that they admit how many failed ideas they tried before finding what worked for them. Unlike a lot of get-rich-quick companies who stumble into a madly profitable sector and then conclude that it was their unique secret sauce that got them there (Amazon, Google, etc), Basecamp clearly lives and breathes a spirit of kaizen.
And although I can already hear the skeptics saying, "That's great for them but it won't work here...", I suggest you read this and apply just one of its practices to yourself or your team. I think you'll be happier.
November 1, 2018
The message is important: a company has the agency to dismiss most business practices and advice — growth at all costs, change for change's sake, working its staff to the bone — and still thrive. I applaud their consistency, year after year, in pointing at their own success as proof.
If you read their blog and Twitter accounts, this book provides very little that's new. Like "Remote", it's more pamphlet (size included) than deep exploration, and, while I think manifestos and clever turns of sentence have their charm, it'd be a lot more valuable had they expanded on their decision-making (i.e. fill-in the blanks between "that was then" and "this is now").
If you read their blog and Twitter accounts, this book provides very little that's new. Like "Remote", it's more pamphlet (size included) than deep exploration, and, while I think manifestos and clever turns of sentence have their charm, it'd be a lot more valuable had they expanded on their decision-making (i.e. fill-in the blanks between "that was then" and "this is now").
August 24, 2019
This book is a flat list of advice on how to run a company. I found some of the advice to be insightful:
* Your company is a product. In fact, it should be your best product.
* "Creativity, progress, and impact do not yield to brute force."
* Office hours: subject-matter experts at your company should hold regularly scheduled office hours where they are 100% available for questions, pair coding, etc. This creates a nice balance where the expert can provide guidance to others without their day being constantly broken up by distractions.
* On work-life balance: "If it’s easier for work to claim a Sunday than for life to borrow a Thursday, there ain’t no balance."
* Library rules at the office. To be able to have an office that's productive, follow the rules you do at a library: be quiet; if you need to talk to someone, find a room; don't distract others unless it's very important. This creates an office that is more peaceful, less stressful, and better at helping people stay focused and get things done.
* Budget not estimates. Most software companies come up with a product idea and ask the engineers to estimate how long it'll take to build. These estimates are notoriously wrong, often by an order of magnitude. Basecamp does the opposite: they set a budget for a project and ask what can be built within that budget. The key idea is to figure out how valuable the feature/product is likely to be, to set a budget that reflects your "appetite" for getting that value, and then doing your best to figure out what can fit within that budget.
* Basecamp organizes most of the company into teams of three (e.g., a designer plus two engineers). Three people is enough to do important work, but small enough that communication and planning overhead is minimal. With bigger teams, you almost always need management, and there is way more overhead, so it's way more expensive, without that much more actually getting done.
* Don’t act immediately on every great idea. Create a culture where you _always_ wait to implement a great new idea. This forces people to sleep on it; very often, a week or two later, you realize it wasn't as great of an idea as you originally thought. Moreover, this avoids constantly jumping from one new idea to the next, leaving lots of unfinished work in your wake.
* When you say no, you're saying no to just one thing. But when you say yes, you're implicitly saying no to millions of other things. Saying no leaves all your options on the table, as you can usually say yes later; but if you say yes right away, you immediately remove most of your other options.
But I also found some of the advice to be questionable at best, or flat out lying/BS at worst:
* They seem to create the impression that offices have no value whatsoever, and that everything should be done remotely / asynchronously. The reality is that it's a trade-off. Remote-first companies have many benefits, such as no commute, full control over hours, few distractions, and no office costs, but they also have some major drawbacks, such as reduced team bonding, increased barrier to asking questions, far less serendipitous discussions, more complexity in management, more complexity in giving feedback, and so on.
* They make it seem like meetings have no value whatsoever. While many types of meetings are wasteful, I think the idea that almost all meetings are wasteful is self-evidently absurd.
* They claim that they never raised any money from VCs, but that's misleading at best, as they raised money from Jeff Bezos' personal investment company (https://signalvnoise.com/archives2/be...). Perhaps it's not a VC firm, but perhaps they should stop pretending like they never raised a cent.
* They claim to never set goals or do long-term planning as a company, and apparently just make it all up as they go along. Ignoring for a second whether that's a good thing for a business or not, the reality is that _everyone_ has goals and does long-term planning: at a bare minimum, you have goals and plans in your mind, but beyond that, I find it hard to imagine co-founders working together for 15+ years without having dreamed up all sorts of long-term plans and goals. So when they claim they don't have goals or plans, all they are really saying is that they don't publicly verbalize their goals or plans.
Overall, the book is hit or miss. The writing can be funny, but also obnoxious; the list format is efficient, but not enjoyable reading; the advice is sometimes valuable and sometimes absurd. You're probably better off saving time and reading their blog posts.
* Your company is a product. In fact, it should be your best product.
* "Creativity, progress, and impact do not yield to brute force."
* Office hours: subject-matter experts at your company should hold regularly scheduled office hours where they are 100% available for questions, pair coding, etc. This creates a nice balance where the expert can provide guidance to others without their day being constantly broken up by distractions.
* On work-life balance: "If it’s easier for work to claim a Sunday than for life to borrow a Thursday, there ain’t no balance."
* Library rules at the office. To be able to have an office that's productive, follow the rules you do at a library: be quiet; if you need to talk to someone, find a room; don't distract others unless it's very important. This creates an office that is more peaceful, less stressful, and better at helping people stay focused and get things done.
* Budget not estimates. Most software companies come up with a product idea and ask the engineers to estimate how long it'll take to build. These estimates are notoriously wrong, often by an order of magnitude. Basecamp does the opposite: they set a budget for a project and ask what can be built within that budget. The key idea is to figure out how valuable the feature/product is likely to be, to set a budget that reflects your "appetite" for getting that value, and then doing your best to figure out what can fit within that budget.
* Basecamp organizes most of the company into teams of three (e.g., a designer plus two engineers). Three people is enough to do important work, but small enough that communication and planning overhead is minimal. With bigger teams, you almost always need management, and there is way more overhead, so it's way more expensive, without that much more actually getting done.
* Don’t act immediately on every great idea. Create a culture where you _always_ wait to implement a great new idea. This forces people to sleep on it; very often, a week or two later, you realize it wasn't as great of an idea as you originally thought. Moreover, this avoids constantly jumping from one new idea to the next, leaving lots of unfinished work in your wake.
* When you say no, you're saying no to just one thing. But when you say yes, you're implicitly saying no to millions of other things. Saying no leaves all your options on the table, as you can usually say yes later; but if you say yes right away, you immediately remove most of your other options.
But I also found some of the advice to be questionable at best, or flat out lying/BS at worst:
* They seem to create the impression that offices have no value whatsoever, and that everything should be done remotely / asynchronously. The reality is that it's a trade-off. Remote-first companies have many benefits, such as no commute, full control over hours, few distractions, and no office costs, but they also have some major drawbacks, such as reduced team bonding, increased barrier to asking questions, far less serendipitous discussions, more complexity in management, more complexity in giving feedback, and so on.
* They make it seem like meetings have no value whatsoever. While many types of meetings are wasteful, I think the idea that almost all meetings are wasteful is self-evidently absurd.
* They claim that they never raised any money from VCs, but that's misleading at best, as they raised money from Jeff Bezos' personal investment company (https://signalvnoise.com/archives2/be...). Perhaps it's not a VC firm, but perhaps they should stop pretending like they never raised a cent.
* They claim to never set goals or do long-term planning as a company, and apparently just make it all up as they go along. Ignoring for a second whether that's a good thing for a business or not, the reality is that _everyone_ has goals and does long-term planning: at a bare minimum, you have goals and plans in your mind, but beyond that, I find it hard to imagine co-founders working together for 15+ years without having dreamed up all sorts of long-term plans and goals. So when they claim they don't have goals or plans, all they are really saying is that they don't publicly verbalize their goals or plans.
Overall, the book is hit or miss. The writing can be funny, but also obnoxious; the list format is efficient, but not enjoyable reading; the advice is sometimes valuable and sometimes absurd. You're probably better off saving time and reading their blog posts.
November 30, 2018
Alternative title: 'Come work at Basecamp!'
There's something weird about modern work culture, things our grandfathers have fought and died for, like the 40 hour work-week, are being unrolled, not directly by your mean bosses, but by neoliberalism/late stage capitalism's magic trick that implanted a tiny voice within yourself, telling you that if you don't give 200%, you'll be left behind. (For more discussion on this weird development, see Byung-Chul Han's Psychopolitik, or Fromm's Sane Society).
One famous example is Elon Musk, who seems to flip-flop between being publicly.... weird, and telling people that you need to work more than 80 hours per week, like him. I guess there's a strong link between both. A lot of the modern Internet startup culture is like this - work yourself to the bone in hope of eventual riches (spoiler: someone else is getting rich). As a scientist there's a similar streak in our work culture, except that nobody is getting rich - and I've seen similar things in the medical profession.
Jason Fried and David Hanemeier Hansson (DHH) both co-founded Basecamp (formerly 37signals?), an Internet company that posits itself as a 'calm company', a place where everybody works 40 hours at the most, a company which doesn't try to grow at all costs. That's what this manifesto is about, essentially a 'modern work culture is BS', followed by 'this is how we are doing this' points, all in short chapters.
Some stuff you want to print out and glue to people's heads:
a lot of the other stuff feels more like advertising for working at Basecamp. Yes, I know this worked for you very well and it took a lot of pressure from your employees, but it's one of many possible solutions. Without numbers or research I cannot tell whether this particular solution is 'better' (for example, yes, 40 hours makes for happier employees, and working longer than that is likely to be detrimental to the work itself - but how much detrimental is it, is it even detrimental, and what about 50, 60, 70 hours, where does it get worse? I don't think there are numbers out there for this?)
But anyway, I'm hoping that this and similar books will cause a re-thinking as to how people treat their work, and their workplace, and their employees. This is one of those books that you should buy a few copies of, then leave them around for someone to serendipitously find. Not just in the business world, but also in scientific research.
There's something weird about modern work culture, things our grandfathers have fought and died for, like the 40 hour work-week, are being unrolled, not directly by your mean bosses, but by neoliberalism/late stage capitalism's magic trick that implanted a tiny voice within yourself, telling you that if you don't give 200%, you'll be left behind. (For more discussion on this weird development, see Byung-Chul Han's Psychopolitik, or Fromm's Sane Society).
One famous example is Elon Musk, who seems to flip-flop between being publicly.... weird, and telling people that you need to work more than 80 hours per week, like him. I guess there's a strong link between both. A lot of the modern Internet startup culture is like this - work yourself to the bone in hope of eventual riches (spoiler: someone else is getting rich). As a scientist there's a similar streak in our work culture, except that nobody is getting rich - and I've seen similar things in the medical profession.
Jason Fried and David Hanemeier Hansson (DHH) both co-founded Basecamp (formerly 37signals?), an Internet company that posits itself as a 'calm company', a place where everybody works 40 hours at the most, a company which doesn't try to grow at all costs. That's what this manifesto is about, essentially a 'modern work culture is BS', followed by 'this is how we are doing this' points, all in short chapters.
Some stuff you want to print out and glue to people's heads:
Time-management hacks, life hacks, sleep hacks, work hacks. These all reflect an obsession with trying to squeeze more time out of the day, but rearranging your daily patterns to find more time for work isn’t the problem. Too much shit to do is the problem. The only way to get more done is to have less to do. Saying no is the only way to claw back time. Don’t shuffle 12 things so that you can do them in a different order, don’t set timers to move on from this or that. Eliminate 7 of the 12 things, and you’ll have time left for the 5. It’s not time management, it’s obligation elimination. Everything else is snake oil.
a lot of the other stuff feels more like advertising for working at Basecamp. Yes, I know this worked for you very well and it took a lot of pressure from your employees, but it's one of many possible solutions. Without numbers or research I cannot tell whether this particular solution is 'better' (for example, yes, 40 hours makes for happier employees, and working longer than that is likely to be detrimental to the work itself - but how much detrimental is it, is it even detrimental, and what about 50, 60, 70 hours, where does it get worse? I don't think there are numbers out there for this?)
But anyway, I'm hoping that this and similar books will cause a re-thinking as to how people treat their work, and their workplace, and their employees. This is one of those books that you should buy a few copies of, then leave them around for someone to serendipitously find. Not just in the business world, but also in scientific research.
April 28, 2021
I'm migrating all my reviews to my blog. If you want to read the full review with my raw notes, check it here: https://pothix.com/crazyatwork
What a great book! The best part of this book is that there's nothing so out of this world there, they are just talking about what we should be doing.
Hey, it's true, it doesn't have to be crazy at work. We can still do our best and deliver an amazing product without making ourselves miserable working like crazy to meet some made-up numbers used as "goals". We can still be ambitious and make something our users love without driving the whole team crazy. We can have a productive environment to let people do their work in the best way possible.
Having a calm and productive environment is a choice.
There are many great tips in this book and I already saw a situation where the solution proposed would apply.
What a great book! The best part of this book is that there's nothing so out of this world there, they are just talking about what we should be doing.
Hey, it's true, it doesn't have to be crazy at work. We can still do our best and deliver an amazing product without making ourselves miserable working like crazy to meet some made-up numbers used as "goals". We can still be ambitious and make something our users love without driving the whole team crazy. We can have a productive environment to let people do their work in the best way possible.
Having a calm and productive environment is a choice.
There are many great tips in this book and I already saw a situation where the solution proposed would apply.
September 15, 2020
I wish I can act on this effective immediately. Maybe I should give it to my boss ://
Read
April 28, 2021Update- took off my stars when they decided they didn't want to be an enviable company anymore.
I started this on a plane and finished it over salt-roasted chicken with celery root, leeks, and ham chips.
Recommend by coworkers, especially @bill’s knh, I found that about 30% of this applies to my company. The fact is that our problems don’t match the ones these folks have solved with their miracle company (which I would LOVE to work at, based on how they present it.)
The 30% that applies applies REALLY HARD. I wish everyone at my company would read that 30%. The other 70% makes me feel like we’re even further off from being functional than I’d thought.
Sharing my notes and highlights, if you’re interested what resonated with me.
I started this on a plane and finished it over salt-roasted chicken with celery root, leeks, and ham chips.
Recommend by coworkers, especially @bill’s knh, I found that about 30% of this applies to my company. The fact is that our problems don’t match the ones these folks have solved with their miracle company (which I would LOVE to work at, based on how they present it.)
The 30% that applies applies REALLY HARD. I wish everyone at my company would read that 30%. The other 70% makes me feel like we’re even further off from being functional than I’d thought.
Sharing my notes and highlights, if you’re interested what resonated with me.
Read
April 27, 2021Just removed my rating and I'm rethinking my response to this book after the April 2021 announcement from Jason and David. I loved this book because I thought it advocated for more inclusive, humane workplaces — but maybe I wasn't reading it closely enough.
October 3, 2018
كتاب يقلب مفاهيم ومبادئ عالم الشركات الناشئة (خاصة تلك التي تعتمد "الطريقة الأمريكية" منها) رأسًا على عقب. يُعتبر هذا ا��كتاب امتدادًا طبيعيًا للكتاب السابق الذي نشره نفس الكاتبان “العمل عن بعد: المكتب غير ضروري”* والذي يدور حول مبدأ العمل عن بُعد وفي فِرق مُوزّعة. هذا الكتاب يركّز هذه المرة على مفهوم إدارة الشركات (خاصّة التقنية منها) بكل هدوء وسكينة وبعيدًا عن "الجنون" الذي أصبح مُرادفًا للعمل في أيّة شركة ناشئة.
من بين الأفكار التي ترسّبت لديّ بعد الفراغ من الكتاب:
- أصبح "الجنون" في العمل سمة تتّسم بها العديد من بيئات العمل خاصة في الشّركات الناشئة. المقصود بـ"الجنون" هنا هو وتيرة العمل، الضغّط المُتواصل، الساعات الطوال والجهد المبذول. كل هذه العوامل لا تترك لصاحب الشركة أو للعاملين فيها أي مجال لأية حياة خارج العمل.
- تسرّبت المُصطلحات الحربية إلى بيئة العمل إلى درجة أصبحت ضمن مفردات أية شركة ناشئة. فهذه الشركة ترغب في السيطرة على حصّة الأسد في هذا المجال، وتلك الشركة تهدف إلى سحق المُنافسين، وأخرى تتصيّد أفضل الرؤوس من مُبرمجين ومُسوّقين لتضمّهم إليها.
- شركتك عبارة عن مُنتج في حد ذاته، تمامًا مثلما تعمل على تحسين المُنتج الذي تعمل عليه فإنه يتوجّب عليك أن تعتبر شركتك مجرّد منتج آخر تعمل عليه. المقصود بذلك هو أن الوصول إلى بيئة عمل هادئة سيحتاج إلى عمل وسيحتاج إلى جهد، وتحقيق هذا الهدف قد يتطلّب إحداث تغييرات تدريجية مُتواصلة في بنية الشركة، في طريقة إدارتها، في أهدافها وفي ثقافتها حتى تصل إلى ذلك.
- لا تملك شركة بايسكامب** (التي يملكها ويديرها الكاتبان والتي تُعتبر مصدر إلهام هذا الكتاب) أيّة أهداف. المقصود بذلك بأن الشركة لا تهدف إلى تحقيق نسبة مُعيّنة من الأرباح أو النمو أو المبيعات أو إطلاق عدد مُحدد من المُنتجات أو عقد عدد مُعيّن من الصفقات. كل ما تهدف الشركة إلى تحقيقه هو أن تكون مُربحة وأن توفّر العيش الكريم لأصحابها ولموظّفيها على حد سواء.
- لا حاجة للتخطيط لكل ما ستقوم به شركتك خلال العشرية القادمة أو حتى خلال السنة القادمة. في أغلب الحالات كل ما تحتاجه هو أن تحل المشاكل والعقبات التي تواجهك حينما تواجهك. التخطيط المُستقبلي على الأمد البعيد لن يخدمك أو يخدم أهدافك في توفير بيئة عمل هادئة.
- العمل لمدة 8 ساعات يوميا (40 ساعة أسبوعيًا) كافٍ وزيادة. لا حاجة لأن تحاول العمل لأكثر من ذلك. في أغلب الحالات تجد أن الموظفين في شركات عديدة يحتاجون إلى العمل لساعات أطول بسبب أنه يصعب عليهم التركيز خلال الساعات الثمانية التي يُفترض بهم أن يعملوا خلالها. الأمر راجع بشكل أساسي لصعوبة التركيز في الشركات التي تعتمد "المكاتب المفتوحة" أين تكثر المُلهيات والاجتماعات. لهذا تجد أنه وفي الكثير من الحالات يضطرّ بعض الموظّفين للقدوم باكرًا قبل أن يزدحم المكتب أو البقاء لساعات متأخّرة من الليل وربما حتى إلى القدوم خلال أيام عطل نهاية الأسبوع إن هم أرادوا إتمام الموكلة إليهم.
- تعتمد شركة بايسكامب مبدأ التواصل اللامتزامن بشكل أساسي. بعبارة أخرى كل سؤال أو نقاش أو موضوع للنقاش يُطرح بشكل يسمح لأي موظف أن يردّ أو يشارك فيه وقتما تفرّغ لذلك. ولهذا تجد أن الشركة تعتمد أحد المبادئ التي نجدها عادة في العالم الأكاديمي والمُتعلّق بمفهوم “ساعات الاستقبال”***. فعلى سبيل المثال يخصص كل موظف وقتا مُعيّنا كل أسبوع للإجابة على أية أسئلة قد تكون لدى باقي أعضاء الفريق. هذا الأمر يسمح للجميع باحترام أوقات الآخرين وعدم مقاطعتهم لما يكونون في فترة "العمل العميق". أمر آخر تعتمده الشركة وهو عدم استخدام أية تقاويم مشتركة. فلا يُمكنك أن تحجز على تقويم جوجل اجتماعًا مع أي عضو آخر في الفريق بسهولة. بل يجب عليك أن تتواصل معه قبل ذلك. إضافة مثل هذا العائق يقضي على الاجتماعات غير المرغوب فيها، كما يُقلل من المُقاطعات التي تسبب في تراجع مردودية كل مُوظّف.
- الشعارات التي ترفعها العديد من الشركات الناشئة مثل شعار "كلنا عائلة واحدة هنا" هي شعارات فارغة في أفضل الحالات وشعارات مُضرّة في أغلب الحالات. في حين أن أفراد العائلة الواحد يهتم بعضهم لبعض، فإن الشركات عادة ما ستضحي بموظفيها في أول فرصة سانحة. يشير الكاتبان بأنهما في شركتهما لا يحاولان خداع الموظفين بمثل هذه الشعارات ولا يحاولان إيهامهم بأنهم عائلة، بل هم مجموعة زملاء يهتم بعضهم لبعض ويفسحون لهم المجال ليكونوا أعضاء صالحين في عائلاتهم الخاصة.
- وجدت في هذا الكتاب أفضل/أدق تعريف لما يُعرف بثقافة الشركة. المقصود بالثقافة -حسب الكتاب- هو ما يُعتبر طبيعيًا وما يتم القيام به بشكل دائم. فعلى سبيل المثال إن كان الموظفون يتبادلون الطرائف حول رسائل عميل ما أو يصفون عميلًا صعبًا بأسوأ الصفات وبدا لك بأن الأمر "عادي" فاعلم أن مثل هذه التصرفات هي جزء من ثقافة شركتك. إضافة إلى ذلك فإن الرئيس التنفيذي / المدير قد يكون أهم مصدر من مصادر "الثقافة التلقائية" التي لم تُدرس ولم تُتخذ عن قصد. فعلى سبيل المثال إن كنت تريد من الموظفين أن لا يعملوا لأكثر من 8 ساعات يوميا لكنهم يلاحظون بأنك أول الواصلين وآخر المُغادرين فسيتكون لديهم الانطباع بأن ثقافة الشركة تنص على ذلك رغم إصرارك على وجوب عدم العمل لأكثر من 8 ساعات يوميًا.
- يركّز الكتاب على أهمية النوم الجيد ولفترات كافية. أذكر أن تغريدة لأحد الكاتبين هي التي دفعتني إلى قراءة كتاب "لماذا ننام؟" الذي سبق وأن كتبت مُراجعة حوله تجدها على الرابط التالي:
http://www.it-scoop.com/2018/07/why-w...
- يذكر الكاتب بعض ما يُميّز العمل لدى بايسكامب تجعل جميع من يقرأ الكتاب يغبط موظّفيهم. فعلى سبيل المثال لا حاجة للتفاوض على الرواتب لدى الشركة بحكم أنهم يدفعون اعتمادًا على أحسن ما يُدفع مقابل تلك الوظيفة في أكثر الأماكن تنافسية في العالم. كما هو معروف فإن رواتب المُبرمجين في وادي السيليكون هي الأعلى في العالم، وبالتالي يُدفع للمُبرمجين بناء على ذاك أيّا كان المكان الذي يقيمون فيه (هذا على عكس ما تقوم به شركات أخرى مثل Buffer والتي تأخذ المدينة التي يتواجد فيها المُوظّف في الحسبان لما يتم احتساب الراتب). إضافة إلى ذلك فإنه يُدفع لكل موظف تكاليف اشتراكه في نادٍ رياضي (وشراء لباس رياضيِ) إضافة إلى تخصيص مبلغ سنوي للتعلم والتكوين (في أي مجال يرغبه الموظف حتى وإن لم يكن له أية علاقة بالعمل). الإجازة السنوية إجبارية وتدفع الشركة تكاليفها، ويطلب من الموظف الانقطاع بشكل كامل عن العمل (يعني يقوم الموظفون حتى بحذف تطبيق بايسكامب من هواتفهم لكيلا ينشغلوا بالعمل خلال إجازاتهم) كما يأخذ الموظفون شهرًا إضافيا كل بضعة سنوات للانقطاع والتفرغ الكامل لأنفسهم.
- تعتمد الشركة في الصيف نظام العمل بأسابيع مكوّنة من 4 أيام عمل فقط. أي أن كل موظف يأخذ الجمعة أو الإثنين إلى جانب يومي السبت والأحد الاعتياديين. يشير الكتاب إلى أنهم لم يلحظوا أي تراجع في الأداء بسبب ذلك. كما لا يتم تعقب ساعات العمل، بل يُعامل الجميع على أنهم سيكونون أمينين في عملهم.
- نقطة عالجها الكتاب ولم أكن أتوقع مثلها وهي عدم الحاجة إلى أن تنشد الكمال في كل مهمة تقوم بها. فعلى سبيل المثال يفضل أن تنهي المهمة بأداء جيّد بدل أن تبذل أضعاف الوقت لتنهيها بأداء ممتاز أو قريب من الكمال. فلا يُمانع الكاتبان مثلا أن ينشرا مقالًا أو تدوينة حتى ولو احتوت خطأ إملائيا أو نحويًا، فالأهم هو النوعية والأداء الإجمالي.
- يحذر الكتاب من اعتماد ما يُسمّى بـ "أفضل المُمارسات" **** والتي تُنشر عادة كقوائم أو مقالات، فما يصلح لشركة كبيرة لا يصلح بالضرورة لشركة صغيرة، وما يفيد شركة ما قد يضر بشركة أخرى.
- ينصح الكتاب بتجنب المخاطر غير المدروسة. يضرب الكتاب مثالًا بالتغيير الحاصل في تسعير تطبيق بايسكامب حيث قررت الشركة رفع سعر المُنتج مرّتين (يعني 3 مرات السعر الحالي) بعد إطلاق تحديث جديد للتطبيق. كيف يُمكن اعتبار هذه المُخاطرة مدروسة؟ يشير الكتاب إلى أن الزبائن الحاليين سيحافظون على نفس التسعير وبالتالي فإنه حتى ولو لم ينضم أي زبون جديد بسبب التسعير الجديد فإن مستقبل الشركة ليس مرهونا (بحكم وجود مئات آلاف الزبائن الحاليين). يشير الكتاب إلى أن التسعير الجديد خفض أعداد المُشتركين الجُدد إلا أن ذلك لم يؤثر على أرباح الشركة بحكم ارتفاع التسعير الذي يدفعه المشتركون الجُدد.
- أجمل فكرة في الكتاب -في رأيي- هي القناعة. المقصود بذلك هو أنه وبعد أن تصل الشركة إلى مستوى مُعيّن من الربحية ويحصّل أصحابها على مستوى مُعيّن من الثروة فلا حاجة فعلية للمزيد. بعبارة أخرى لا حاجة للسعي وراء النمو المتواصل والمتزايد. صحيح بأن الشركة ستنمو لكن ستنمو ببطء. هذا ما يخلق جوًا من السكينة في الشركة يعود بالنفع على الجميع.
أنصح الجميع بقراءة هذا الكتاب، حتى إن لم تكن تنوي إطلاق شركة الخاصة فقد تُساعدك أفكار هذا الكتاب في تحسين أوضاع الشركة التي تعمل الآن لصالحها. الكتاب قصير نسبيًا ويُمكنك إنهاؤه في جلسة واحدة (حوالي ساعتين). إن كنت ممن يفضّلون الكتب الصوتية فأداء هذا ا��كتاب كانت في القمّة.
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* Remote: Office Not Required
** بايسكامب basecamp
*** ساعات الاستقبال office hours
**** أفضل المُمارسات best practices
سبق وأن نشرت هذا المقال على مُدوّنتي من هنا:
http://www.it-scoop.com/2018/10/it-do...
من بين الأفكار التي ترسّبت لديّ بعد الفراغ من الكتاب:
- أصبح "الجنون" في العمل سمة تتّسم بها العديد من بيئات العمل خاصة في الشّركات الناشئة. المقصود بـ"الجنون" هنا هو وتيرة العمل، الضغّط المُتواصل، الساعات الطوال والجهد المبذول. كل هذه العوامل لا تترك لصاحب الشركة أو للعاملين فيها أي مجال لأية حياة خارج العمل.
- تسرّبت المُصطلحات الحربية إلى بيئة العمل إلى درجة أصبحت ضمن مفردات أية شركة ناشئة. فهذه الشركة ترغب في السيطرة على حصّة الأسد في هذا المجال، وتلك الشركة تهدف إلى سحق المُنافسين، وأخرى تتصيّد أفضل الرؤوس من مُبرمجين ومُسوّقين لتضمّهم إليها.
- شركتك عبارة عن مُنتج في حد ذاته، تمامًا مثلما تعمل على تحسين المُنتج الذي تعمل عليه فإنه يتوجّب عليك أن تعتبر شركتك مجرّد منتج آخر تعمل عليه. المقصود بذلك هو أن الوصول إلى بيئة عمل هادئة سيحتاج إلى عمل وسيحتاج إلى جهد، وتحقيق هذا الهدف قد يتطلّب إحداث تغييرات تدريجية مُتواصلة في بنية الشركة، في طريقة إدارتها، في أهدافها وفي ثقافتها حتى تصل إلى ذلك.
- لا تملك شركة بايسكامب** (التي يملكها ويديرها الكاتبان والتي تُعتبر مصدر إلهام هذا الكتاب) أيّة أهداف. المقصود بذلك بأن الشركة لا تهدف إلى تحقيق نسبة مُعيّنة من الأرباح أو النمو أو المبيعات أو إطلاق عدد مُحدد من المُنتجات أو عقد عدد مُعيّن من الصفقات. كل ما تهدف الشركة إلى تحقيقه هو أن تكون مُربحة وأن توفّر العيش الكريم لأصحابها ولموظّفيها على حد سواء.
- لا حاجة للتخطيط لكل ما ستقوم به شركتك خلال العشرية القادمة أو حتى خلال السنة القادمة. في أغلب الحالات كل ما تحتاجه هو أن تحل المشاكل والعقبات التي تواجهك حينما تواجهك. التخطيط المُستقبلي على الأمد البعيد لن يخدمك أو يخدم أهدافك في توفير بيئة عمل هادئة.
- العمل لمدة 8 ساعات يوميا (40 ساعة أسبوعيًا) كافٍ وزيادة. لا حاجة لأن تحاول العمل لأكثر من ذلك. في أغلب الحالات تجد أن الموظفين في شركات عديدة يحتاجون إلى العمل لساعات أطول بسبب أنه يصعب عليهم التركيز خلال الساعات الثمانية التي يُفترض بهم أن يعملوا خلالها. الأمر راجع بشكل أساسي لصعوبة التركيز في الشركات التي تعتمد "المكاتب المفتوحة" أين تكثر المُلهيات والاجتماعات. لهذا تجد أنه وفي الكثير من الحالات يضطرّ بعض الموظّفين للقدوم باكرًا قبل أن يزدحم المكتب أو البقاء لساعات متأخّرة من الليل وربما حتى إلى القدوم خلال أيام عطل نهاية الأسبوع إن هم أرادوا إتمام الموكلة إليهم.
- تعتمد شركة بايسكامب مبدأ التواصل اللامتزامن بشكل أساسي. بعبارة أخرى كل سؤال أو نقاش أو موضوع للنقاش يُطرح بشكل يسمح لأي موظف أن يردّ أو يشارك فيه وقتما تفرّغ لذلك. ولهذا تجد أن الشركة تعتمد أحد المبادئ التي نجدها عادة في العالم الأكاديمي والمُتعلّق بمفهوم “ساعات الاستقبال”***. فعلى سبيل المثال يخصص كل موظف وقتا مُعيّنا كل أسبوع للإجابة على أية أسئلة قد تكون لدى باقي أعضاء الفريق. هذا الأمر يسمح للجميع باحترام أوقات الآخرين وعدم مقاطعتهم لما يكونون في فترة "العمل العميق". أمر آخر تعتمده الشركة وهو عدم استخدام أية تقاويم مشتركة. فلا يُمكنك أن تحجز على تقويم جوجل اجتماعًا مع أي عضو آخر في الفريق بسهولة. بل يجب عليك أن تتواصل معه قبل ذلك. إضافة مثل هذا العائق يقضي على الاجتماعات غير المرغوب فيها، كما يُقلل من المُقاطعات التي تسبب في تراجع مردودية كل مُوظّف.
- الشعارات التي ترفعها العديد من الشركات الناشئة مثل شعار "كلنا عائلة واحدة هنا" هي شعارات فارغة في أفضل الحالات وشعارات مُضرّة في أغلب الحالات. في حين أن أفراد العائلة الواحد يهتم بعضهم لبعض، فإن الشركات عادة ما ستضحي بموظفيها في أول فرصة سانحة. يشير الكاتبان بأنهما في شركتهما لا يحاولان خداع الموظفين بمثل هذه الشعارات ولا يحاولان إيهامهم بأنهم عائلة، بل هم مجموعة زملاء يهتم بعضهم لبعض ويفسحون لهم المجال ليكونوا أعضاء صالحين في عائلاتهم الخاصة.
- وجدت في هذا الكتاب أفضل/أدق تعريف لما يُعرف بثقافة الشركة. المقصود بالثقافة -حسب الكتاب- هو ما يُعتبر طبيعيًا وما يتم القيام به بشكل دائم. فعلى سبيل المثال إن كان الموظفون يتبادلون الطرائف حول رسائل عميل ما أو يصفون عميلًا صعبًا بأسوأ الصفات وبدا لك بأن الأمر "عادي" فاعلم أن مثل هذه التصرفات هي جزء من ثقافة شركتك. إضافة إلى ذلك فإن الرئيس التنفيذي / المدير قد يكون أهم مصدر من مصادر "الثقافة التلقائية" التي لم تُدرس ولم تُتخذ عن قصد. فعلى سبيل المثال إن كنت تريد من الموظفين أن لا يعملوا لأكثر من 8 ساعات يوميا لكنهم يلاحظون بأنك أول الواصلين وآخر المُغادرين فسيتكون لديهم الانطباع بأن ثقافة الشركة تنص على ذلك رغم إصرارك على وجوب عدم العمل لأكثر من 8 ساعات يوميًا.
- يركّز الكتاب على أهمية النوم الجيد ولفترات كافية. أذكر أن تغريدة لأحد الكاتبين هي التي دفعتني إلى قراءة كتاب "لماذا ننام؟" الذي سبق وأن كتبت مُراجعة حوله تجدها على الرابط التالي:
http://www.it-scoop.com/2018/07/why-w...
- يذكر الكاتب بعض ما يُميّز العمل لدى بايسكامب تجعل جميع من يقرأ الكتاب يغبط موظّفيهم. فعلى سبيل المثال لا حاجة للتفاوض على الرواتب لدى الشركة بحكم أنهم يدفعون اعتمادًا على أحسن ما يُدفع مقابل تلك الوظيفة في أكثر الأماكن تنافسية في العالم. كما هو معروف فإن رواتب المُبرمجين في وادي السيليكون هي الأعلى في العالم، وبالتالي يُدفع للمُبرمجين بناء على ذاك أيّا كان المكان الذي يقيمون فيه (هذا على عكس ما تقوم به شركات أخرى مثل Buffer والتي تأخذ المدينة التي يتواجد فيها المُوظّف في الحسبان لما يتم احتساب الراتب). إضافة إلى ذلك فإنه يُدفع لكل موظف تكاليف اشتراكه في نادٍ رياضي (وشراء لباس رياضيِ) إضافة إلى تخصيص مبلغ سنوي للتعلم والتكوين (في أي مجال يرغبه الموظف حتى وإن لم يكن له أية علاقة بالعمل). الإجازة السنوية إجبارية وتدفع الشركة تكاليفها، ويطلب من الموظف الانقطاع بشكل كامل عن العمل (يعني يقوم الموظفون حتى بحذف تطبيق بايسكامب من هواتفهم لكيلا ينشغلوا بالعمل خلال إجازاتهم) كما يأخذ الموظفون شهرًا إضافيا كل بضعة سنوات للانقطاع والتفرغ الكامل لأنفسهم.
- تعتمد الشركة في الصيف نظام العمل بأسابيع مكوّنة من 4 أيام عمل فقط. أي أن كل موظف يأخذ الجمعة أو الإثنين إلى جانب يومي السبت والأحد الاعتياديين. يشير الكتاب إلى أنهم لم يلحظوا أي تراجع في الأداء بسبب ذلك. كما لا يتم تعقب ساعات العمل، بل يُعامل الجميع على أنهم سيكونون أمينين في عملهم.
- نقطة عالجها الكتاب ولم أكن أتوقع مثلها وهي عدم الحاجة إلى أن تنشد الكمال في كل مهمة تقوم بها. فعلى سبيل المثال يفضل أن تنهي المهمة بأداء جيّد بدل أن تبذل أضعاف الوقت لتنهيها بأداء ممتاز أو قريب من الكمال. فلا يُمانع الكاتبان مثلا أن ينشرا مقالًا أو تدوينة حتى ولو احتوت خطأ إملائيا أو نحويًا، فالأهم هو النوعية والأداء الإجمالي.
- يحذر الكتاب من اعتماد ما يُسمّى بـ "أفضل المُمارسات" **** والتي تُنشر عادة كقوائم أو مقالات، فما يصلح لشركة كبيرة لا يصلح بالضرورة لشركة صغيرة، وما يفيد شركة ما قد يضر بشركة أخرى.
- ينصح الكتاب بتجنب المخاطر غير المدروسة. يضرب الكتاب مثالًا بالتغيير الحاصل في تسعير تطبيق بايسكامب حيث قررت الشركة رفع سعر المُنتج مرّتين (يعني 3 مرات السعر الحالي) بعد إطلاق تحديث جديد للتطبيق. كيف يُمكن اعتبار هذه المُخاطرة مدروسة؟ يشير الكتاب إلى أن الزبائن الحاليين سيحافظون على نفس التسعير وبالتالي فإنه حتى ولو لم ينضم أي زبون جديد بسبب التسعير الجديد فإن مستقبل الشركة ليس مرهونا (بحكم وجود مئات آلاف الزبائن الحاليين). يشير الكتاب إلى أن التسعير الجديد خفض أعداد المُشتركين الجُدد إلا أن ذلك لم يؤثر على أرباح الشركة بحكم ارتفاع التسعير الذي يدفعه المشتركون الجُدد.
- أجمل فكرة في الكتاب -في رأيي- هي القناعة. المقصود بذلك هو أنه وبعد أن تصل الشركة إلى مستوى مُعيّن من الربحية ويحصّل أصحابها على مستوى مُعيّن من الثروة فلا حاجة فعلية للمزيد. بعبارة أخرى لا حاجة للسعي وراء النمو المتواصل والمتزايد. صحيح بأن الشركة ستنمو لكن ستنمو ببطء. هذا ما يخلق جوًا من السكينة في الشركة يعود بالنفع على الجميع.
أنصح الجميع بقراءة هذا الكتاب، حتى إن لم تكن تنوي إطلاق شركة الخاصة فقد تُساعدك أفكار هذا الكتاب في تحسين أوضاع الشركة التي تعمل الآن لصالحها. الكتاب قصير نسبيًا ويُمكنك إنهاؤه في جلسة واحدة (حوالي ساعتين). إن كنت ممن يفضّلون الكتب الصوتية فأداء هذا ا��كتاب كانت في القمّة.
---
* Remote: Office Not Required
** بايسكامب basecamp
*** ساعات الاستقبال office hours
**** أفضل المُمارسات best practices
سبق وأن نشرت هذا المقال على مُدوّنتي من هنا:
http://www.it-scoop.com/2018/10/it-do...
March 1, 2020
This is the second time I've read this book (the first time I listened to the audio book) and admittedly, while I love 85% of the sentiments throughout the book, I found a few things problematic.
Before we get to the problematic areas, I wanted to note a few things I did enjoy.
Basecamp's outlook on company benefits and how they should aim to get the employees *out* of the office and not keep them in (like free lunches and dinners do) is spot on. And paying for employees' vacations yearly almost forces them to relax, which in this day and age we need.
I also enjoyed how they employ a no-negotiation policy and how they pay their employees the top 10% market value of the employees' roles based out of San Francisco, even though their employees can live wherever they so choose.
I enjoyed the "absorb before responding" workflow. It allows presentation recipients to truly think through a proposal instead of making a snap judgement.
That being said, I also had some issues with the book.
First, the authors, who founded Basecamp, talk a LOT about the benefits their policies have for employees. They preach it time and time again, yet we fail to actually hear about these benefits from the employees themselves. I would have liked to see some quotes from current and past employees testifying to these benefits instead of hearing about them second hand.
Next, the authors seemed to contradict themselves, likely due to a lack of providing details. Each chapter is extremely short, which makes it easy to digest, but it sacrificed clarity that I personally missed.
For example, they harp on the idea of "meeting free work time" and meetings as a last resort, but then later in the book describe how their chat services should be minimally used and you should never make decisions or have long chat threads. How can you possibly maintain solid collaboration, across time zones and with remote employees, if you're encouraged to NOT have meetings and NOT use chats? It seemed a bit contradictory due to a lack of explanation.
This wasn't the only contradictory information I found either. Early in the book they talk about how employees don't have to let the team know where they are or if they're working. They're responsible for getting their work done but don't have to be transparent about when or where that is. However, later in the book they discuss their flexible PTO and flexible workdays and say that if an employee needs to leave early to pick up a child from school they can simply let their team know. So which is it?
There was no mention of mentorship, which I would like to have seen.
And lastly they discussed how consensus is NEVER feasible and you shouldn't aim for consensual decision making. But this is a very American-based mindset. In other parts of the world, they make decisions solely through consensus. America is a very top-down decision-making culture, but not every culture sees it this way. So it would be great if they could have recognized this.
I feel like each chapter reads wonderfully as a standalone, however when put together into a larger narrative, a lack of oversight was apparent. I still enjoyed the book and believe every company can gain something from it, but there were a few things I took issue with that knocked it down a star for me.
Before we get to the problematic areas, I wanted to note a few things I did enjoy.
Basecamp's outlook on company benefits and how they should aim to get the employees *out* of the office and not keep them in (like free lunches and dinners do) is spot on. And paying for employees' vacations yearly almost forces them to relax, which in this day and age we need.
I also enjoyed how they employ a no-negotiation policy and how they pay their employees the top 10% market value of the employees' roles based out of San Francisco, even though their employees can live wherever they so choose.
I enjoyed the "absorb before responding" workflow. It allows presentation recipients to truly think through a proposal instead of making a snap judgement.
That being said, I also had some issues with the book.
First, the authors, who founded Basecamp, talk a LOT about the benefits their policies have for employees. They preach it time and time again, yet we fail to actually hear about these benefits from the employees themselves. I would have liked to see some quotes from current and past employees testifying to these benefits instead of hearing about them second hand.
Next, the authors seemed to contradict themselves, likely due to a lack of providing details. Each chapter is extremely short, which makes it easy to digest, but it sacrificed clarity that I personally missed.
For example, they harp on the idea of "meeting free work time" and meetings as a last resort, but then later in the book describe how their chat services should be minimally used and you should never make decisions or have long chat threads. How can you possibly maintain solid collaboration, across time zones and with remote employees, if you're encouraged to NOT have meetings and NOT use chats? It seemed a bit contradictory due to a lack of explanation.
This wasn't the only contradictory information I found either. Early in the book they talk about how employees don't have to let the team know where they are or if they're working. They're responsible for getting their work done but don't have to be transparent about when or where that is. However, later in the book they discuss their flexible PTO and flexible workdays and say that if an employee needs to leave early to pick up a child from school they can simply let their team know. So which is it?
There was no mention of mentorship, which I would like to have seen.
And lastly they discussed how consensus is NEVER feasible and you shouldn't aim for consensual decision making. But this is a very American-based mindset. In other parts of the world, they make decisions solely through consensus. America is a very top-down decision-making culture, but not every culture sees it this way. So it would be great if they could have recognized this.
I feel like each chapter reads wonderfully as a standalone, however when put together into a larger narrative, a lack of oversight was apparent. I still enjoyed the book and believe every company can gain something from it, but there were a few things I took issue with that knocked it down a star for me.
July 9, 2019
37 Signals'ın bütün kitaplarını okudum. Hepsi çok güzel fikirler barındırıyordu, bu kitap da bundan farklı değil. Ama büyük bir eksik var.
Son zamanlarda Amerika'da yeni bir trend başladı: Calm. Silikon vadisinin parlattığı "günde 18 saat çalış, yoksa milyar dolarlar kazanamazsın" fikrinin tam tersini savunan bu akım, eğer sakin ve planlı bir iş hayatı sürdürmezsek, bunun uzun vadede ciddi problemler açacağını söylüyor.
Kitabın yazarlarının kurucusu olduğu Basecamp şirketi de bu "Calm" akımının savunucularından. Kitap kısa kısa pasajlardan oluşuyor, ve her pasaj başka bir konuyu ele alıyor. Bu yüzden okuması da gayet hızlı, 2-3 saatte rahatça bitirebilirsiniz. Diğer kitapları gibi güzel fikirler barındırıyor ancak yazarların aşırı sabit fikirli olması beni rahatsız etti.
Sakinlik ve ekip yönetimi ile ilgili kısımlara fazlasıyla katılsam da, iş modeli, para kazanma ve şirket yönetme ile ilgili kısımlardaki kesin ifadeleri beğenmedim. Basecamp'in ürünü basit bir proje yöneticisi. Ürünün arka planında gelişmiş bir teknoloji kullanmıyorlar. Ekledikleri özelliklerin hepsi proje yönetimini kolaylaştıracak tasarım iyileştirmeleri olan bir şirketin, "ürününüzün tek fiyatı olmalı, 1 milyar dolarlık şirkete de, tek kişiye de aynı fiyattan ürün satmalısınız" tarzı dayatmaları fazla iddialı olmuş. Her ürün Basecamp gibi basit değil.
Özetle kitabın savunduğu tez doğru olsa da, örnekleri çoğaltmak amacıyla seçtikleri konular ve bu konularda diretmeleri kitabı sevmeme engel oldu. Bir önceki kitapları Remote da böyleydi.
3.5/5
Son zamanlarda Amerika'da yeni bir trend başladı: Calm. Silikon vadisinin parlattığı "günde 18 saat çalış, yoksa milyar dolarlar kazanamazsın" fikrinin tam tersini savunan bu akım, eğer sakin ve planlı bir iş hayatı sürdürmezsek, bunun uzun vadede ciddi problemler açacağını söylüyor.
Kitabın yazarlarının kurucusu olduğu Basecamp şirketi de bu "Calm" akımının savunucularından. Kitap kısa kısa pasajlardan oluşuyor, ve her pasaj başka bir konuyu ele alıyor. Bu yüzden okuması da gayet hızlı, 2-3 saatte rahatça bitirebilirsiniz. Diğer kitapları gibi güzel fikirler barındırıyor ancak yazarların aşırı sabit fikirli olması beni rahatsız etti.
Sakinlik ve ekip yönetimi ile ilgili kısımlara fazlasıyla katılsam da, iş modeli, para kazanma ve şirket yönetme ile ilgili kısımlardaki kesin ifadeleri beğenmedim. Basecamp'in ürünü basit bir proje yöneticisi. Ürünün arka planında gelişmiş bir teknoloji kullanmıyorlar. Ekledikleri özelliklerin hepsi proje yönetimini kolaylaştıracak tasarım iyileştirmeleri olan bir şirketin, "ürününüzün tek fiyatı olmalı, 1 milyar dolarlık şirkete de, tek kişiye de aynı fiyattan ürün satmalısınız" tarzı dayatmaları fazla iddialı olmuş. Her ürün Basecamp gibi basit değil.
Özetle kitabın savunduğu tez doğru olsa da, örnekleri çoğaltmak amacıyla seçtikleri konular ve bu konularda diretmeleri kitabı sevmeme engel oldu. Bir önceki kitapları Remote da böyleydi.
3.5/5
February 1, 2022
Mi-a plăcut tare mult, deși pe alocuri mi s-a părut a fi o carte despre cât de cool de Basecamp ca mediu de lucru și business. Da, sunt lucruri de bun-simț, nimic care să se fi simțit ca o revelație, însă aveam atât de mare nevoie de carte asta și a venit la fix.
December 22, 2018
Excellent book on how to build sane business.
December 1, 2018
Nice.
It’s good to read business advice from successful business people that is so calm and takes a different line from almost any other I’ve read. Assuming working for Basecamp really is as good as the picture the authors paint then anyone working there is pretty lucky.
A few stylistic quibbles aside this is a great enjoyable read. The only bit which jars for Europeans is flagging 3 weeks paid leave as something special - everyone I know gets at least 5 (excluding public holidays which are on top). But this is one detail in a book full showing a really pleasant attitude to work and business.
If you happen to work for an awful employer I’m not sure if this book will irritate or inspire though!
It’s good to read business advice from successful business people that is so calm and takes a different line from almost any other I’ve read. Assuming working for Basecamp really is as good as the picture the authors paint then anyone working there is pretty lucky.
A few stylistic quibbles aside this is a great enjoyable read. The only bit which jars for Europeans is flagging 3 weeks paid leave as something special - everyone I know gets at least 5 (excluding public holidays which are on top). But this is one detail in a book full showing a really pleasant attitude to work and business.
If you happen to work for an awful employer I’m not sure if this book will irritate or inspire though!
October 25, 2018
I've got mixed feelings on this one.
After reading remote and rework, this one feels kinda "cheap", in the sense that is a 18$ book (pre-order, now is 25$) that you read in a couple of days.
Don't get me wrong, I like the content, but, maybe I've just been following DHH and his "teachings" for so long that it didn't really teach me anything.
I'll share it with a few coworkers and managers to see they're feedback.
Also one thing I noticed, especially since I always read on my kindle, the book feels cheap (a lot of white space and different color and font type on different pages) on the inside, although the outside is nice and classy once you remove the outside cover.
After reading remote and rework, this one feels kinda "cheap", in the sense that is a 18$ book (pre-order, now is 25$) that you read in a couple of days.
Don't get me wrong, I like the content, but, maybe I've just been following DHH and his "teachings" for so long that it didn't really teach me anything.
I'll share it with a few coworkers and managers to see they're feedback.
Also one thing I noticed, especially since I always read on my kindle, the book feels cheap (a lot of white space and different color and font type on different pages) on the inside, although the outside is nice and classy once you remove the outside cover.
November 9, 2018
Bam! Bam! Bam! This book shoots advice from the third gen of the way of working in software development. Will everything from this book be there in the future? No. Will everything here work for you? No. Are some things only possible if you are already highly profitable and don't have external capital? Yes.
And then still there is a TON of valid points, suggestions and directions everyone should at least consider, and implement some. Or your competitors will.
And then still there is a TON of valid points, suggestions and directions everyone should at least consider, and implement some. Or your competitors will.
December 2, 2020
Коротше, вони існують. Компанії, в яких не треба кудись бігти, чогось неймовірного досягати і бути супермегаархіуспішними. Я вражена від кількості непопулярних рішень Basecamp, описаних авторами. Зазвичай непопулярні рішення - це звільнити працівників, так от, тут геть не про це. Вони свідомо відмовляються від росту, розвитку нових продуктів, співпраці з великим бізнесом, робочих п’ятниць, овертаймів на користь виконаних задач, геніальних ідей на користь запланованих завдань і ще купи всього. І при тому норм себе «чухають»!))) Важко повірити, важко осягнути, але дуже надихає. Я не зустрічала компаній, які працюють так, але якщо колись полізу в бізнес, то дуже хочу пам’ятати про оце сповільнення і непотрібність роботи «на межі». Не божеволіти на роботі книга не допомогла, але натхнення подарувала, і за це - 5 зірочок 😊
December 27, 2018
Basecamp founders Jason Fried and DHH have the uncanny ability to provide a clearheaded account of their process, decisions and the outcomes that result from them in a way that inspires, drives and motivates others.
Their concise writing style is a reflection of the way they intertwine utility with perspective-altering insights that challenge the status quo and cut through the BS to focus on what really matters.
This is a book meant to be read and re-read regularly, a book that challenges conventional wisdom, a book that proves that you can build a business differently, according to your own rules, shaping its culture in a way that's rewarding and fair to everyone involved.
I highly recommend it to anyone who's tired of business as usual and its fluff, BS and stress.
There are ways to do things differently and this book gave me even more courage to do it.
Their concise writing style is a reflection of the way they intertwine utility with perspective-altering insights that challenge the status quo and cut through the BS to focus on what really matters.
This is a book meant to be read and re-read regularly, a book that challenges conventional wisdom, a book that proves that you can build a business differently, according to your own rules, shaping its culture in a way that's rewarding and fair to everyone involved.
I highly recommend it to anyone who's tired of business as usual and its fluff, BS and stress.
There are ways to do things differently and this book gave me even more courage to do it.
December 17, 2018
The praise of calm, commited, well-formulated, thought-through work environment.
An antithesis to war metaphors in business literature and the talk about the need to grow endlessly (like The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers) or the urgent need to be "happy" or "family".
EDIT: There actually is one topic I actually miss in this book - the perspective of the remotely working employee of Basecamp. Just to have a glimps whether and how are those down-to-earth principles turned into practice by a "regular" team member.
An antithesis to war metaphors in business literature and the talk about the need to grow endlessly (like The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers) or the urgent need to be "happy" or "family".
EDIT: There actually is one topic I actually miss in this book - the perspective of the remotely working employee of Basecamp. Just to have a glimps whether and how are those down-to-earth principles turned into practice by a "regular" team member.
March 31, 2020
I really like how committed the authors are to their ethical code. It's really awesome to see.
That being said, this feels really hype-based. I'd love to see more from their employees, especially ones who have left the company.
I also don't agree with all their standpoints, in fact their low-level of communication would leave me feeling isolated and unhappy most likely as an extrovert.
I love how they feature their values and care so much about their employees, but I wish the book went deeper into who their company doesn't work for, because I imagine that's a lot of people.
That being said, this feels really hype-based. I'd love to see more from their employees, especially ones who have left the company.
I also don't agree with all their standpoints, in fact their low-level of communication would leave me feeling isolated and unhappy most likely as an extrovert.
I love how they feature their values and care so much about their employees, but I wish the book went deeper into who their company doesn't work for, because I imagine that's a lot of people.
February 25, 2019
Fresh perspective, good rationale, enjoyable exposition. But docking a star for too much self glorification.
Quick and easy read that may help to make a much needed shift in a workplace culture
Quick and easy read that may help to make a much needed shift in a workplace culture
January 4, 2020
Multe idei de luat si multe altele de combatut. Cate un exemplu pentru fiecare:
De luat: principiul ‘lucrul in open space ca in biblioteca’.
De combatut: lipsa oricaror obiective pe o perioada mai lunga de 6 saptamani; gandirea project-based.
Una peste alta, o carte faina, care incearca sa ucida niste mituri corporatiste. Buna daca o adaptezi la situatia concreta in care te afli.
De luat: principiul ‘lucrul in open space ca in biblioteca’.
De combatut: lipsa oricaror obiective pe o perioada mai lunga de 6 saptamani; gandirea project-based.
Una peste alta, o carte faina, care incearca sa ucida niste mituri corporatiste. Buna daca o adaptezi la situatia concreta in care te afli.
April 6, 2019
О ЧЕМ КНИГА:
Уже треть�� книга от основателей Basecamp. У этих авторов всегда встречаются ценные мысли и нестандартный подход к ведению бизнеса. Они могут себе это позволить так как уже 20 лет владеют супер успешным SaaS бизнесом по подписке у которого сейчас около 100 тыс клиентов. Далеко не все их принципы и советы подойдут компаниям из других отраслей и там более в России. Представляю, что будет если их методы ведения бизнеса начнет использовать обычная торговая компания) Главное в этой и предыдущих работах то, что они заставляют пересмотреть классические подходы в управлении фирмой и могут навести вас на новые идеи о том, как улучшить свою компанию.
КАКАЯ БЫЛА ЦЕЛЬ ЧТЕНИЯ:
- Детально разобраться в подходе "Компания - это продукт", который проповедуют основатели Basecamp. Понять, что из этого я могу применить в своих бизнесах прямо сейчас.
ГЛАВНЫЕ ВЫВОДЫ:
- В одном часе 60 минут, но у них может быть разное качество. 1Х60 мин не равно 4Х15 или 25+5+10+15+5. Действительно качественный результат можно получить только от сконцентрированной работы над одной задачей.
- Don't be the last to know. Хорошая глава о том, что надо регулярно проводить опросы сотрудников, потому что руководитель, как правило, узнает о проблемах последний) И надо задавать им прямые и неприятные вопросы.
- Нанимайте человека, а не резюме.
- Платить бонусы только за рост бизнеса. Хороший подход для бонусной системы - платить 25% от роста валовой прибыли этого года к предыдущему. Распределить эту сумму между всеми сотрудниками.
- Compromise on Quality. Идите на компромисс с качеством. Каждый дурак может потратить кучу времени и ресурсов, чтобы настроить в своем бизнесе все процессы идеально. Тогда не останется денег на прибыль) Только действительно крутой предприниматель может выбрать, что делать хорошо, а на что можно забить.
- Нет такого понятия как best practice "практики лучших компаний". Каждая компания уникальна и находится на своем жизненном цикле.
- Отличная ссылка на файл руководство для сотрудников Basecamp! basecamp.com/handbook
ЧТО Я БУДУ ПРИМЕНЯТЬ В ЖИЗНИ И БИЗНЕСЕ:
- В каждой компании, в зависимости от специфики бизнеса, надо выработать правила по срокам реагирования на сообщения и имейлы от коллег. Сейчас это есть только у меня и партнеров.
- Надо сформировать правила поведения и коммуникации с коллегами в офисе. Цель в том, чтобы люди не отвлекали друг друга по пустякам и не создавали шум. Похоже на правила поведения в библиотеке)
ЕЩЕ НА ЭТУ ТЕМУ:
Джейсон Фрайд "Rework"
Уже треть�� книга от основателей Basecamp. У этих авторов всегда встречаются ценные мысли и нестандартный подход к ведению бизнеса. Они могут себе это позволить так как уже 20 лет владеют супер успешным SaaS бизнесом по подписке у которого сейчас около 100 тыс клиентов. Далеко не все их принципы и советы подойдут компаниям из других отраслей и там более в России. Представляю, что будет если их методы ведения бизнеса начнет использовать обычная торговая компания) Главное в этой и предыдущих работах то, что они заставляют пересмотреть классические подходы в управлении фирмой и могут навести вас на новые идеи о том, как улучшить свою компанию.
КАКАЯ БЫЛА ЦЕЛЬ ЧТЕНИЯ:
- Детально разобраться в подходе "Компания - это продукт", который проповедуют основатели Basecamp. Понять, что из этого я могу применить в своих бизнесах прямо сейчас.
ГЛАВНЫЕ ВЫВОДЫ:
- В одном часе 60 минут, но у них может быть разное качество. 1Х60 мин не равно 4Х15 или 25+5+10+15+5. Действительно качественный результат можно получить только от сконцентрированной работы над одной задачей.
- Don't be the last to know. Хорошая глава о том, что надо регулярно проводить опросы сотрудников, потому что руководитель, как правило, узнает о проблемах последний) И надо задавать им прямые и неприятные вопросы.
- Нанимайте человека, а не резюме.
- Платить бонусы только за рост бизнеса. Хороший подход для бонусной системы - платить 25% от роста валовой прибыли этого года к предыдущему. Распределить эту сумму между всеми сотрудниками.
- Compromise on Quality. Идите на компромисс с качеством. Каждый дурак может потратить кучу времени и ресурсов, чтобы настроить в своем бизнесе все процессы идеально. Тогда не останется денег на прибыль) Только действительно крутой предприниматель может выбрать, что делать хорошо, а на что можно забить.
- Нет такого понятия как best practice "практики лучших компаний". Каждая компания уникальна и находится на своем жизненном цикле.
- Отличная ссылка на файл руководство для сотрудников Basecamp! basecamp.com/handbook
ЧТО Я БУДУ ПРИМЕНЯТЬ В ЖИЗНИ И БИЗНЕСЕ:
- В каждой компании, в зависимости от специфики бизнеса, надо выработать правила по срокам реагирования на сообщения и имейлы от коллег. Сейчас это есть только у меня и партнеров.
- Надо сформировать правила поведения и коммуникации с коллегами в офисе. Цель в том, чтобы люди не отвлекали друг друга по пустякам и не создавали шум. Похоже на правила поведения в библиотеке)
ЕЩЕ НА ЭТУ ТЕМУ:
Джейсон Фрайд "Rework"
October 25, 2018
It's a great book not as a book per se, but as a proof that things can be different then we are made to believe. It's like a fairy tale that takes you in a different time and place. It shows you some things can work in the real world if you think about others as people, not as a way to achieve billions.
October 3, 2018
Listened to the audiobook. Love the clarity and conciseness of the book. It does so without losing any punch or impact too.
January 5, 2021
Great insight into surviving (and thriving) in the 9-5 work life. A bit repetitive at times.
December 24, 2018
Hyvää haastamista "työelämä on hirveää kaaosta aaarrggghh" -hokemille. Moni asia on muutettavissa jos on oikeasti tahtoa, esim. itsensä työlle uhraamisen palvonta. Oikein hyvä, kevyt mutta myös syvällinen työelämäkirja.
February 18, 2021
'Rework' has changed my work life some way. I think, this book will do the same. Pretty sure, I will reread it again and will share the book to my colleagues as well. Like it.
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