ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever

by Jason Fried

Success is the experience that actually counts.

Why don’t we just call plans what they really are: guesses.

Plans let the past drive the future. They put blinders on you.

Plans are inconsistent with improvisation.

Everyone should be encouraged to start his own business, not just some rare breed that self-identifies as entrepreneurs.

Anyone who creates a new business is a starter. You don’t need an MBA, a certificate, a fancy suit, a briefcase, or an above-average tolerance for risk.

The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use.

Strong opinions aren’t free.

When you don’t know what you believe, everything becomes an argument. Everything is debatable. But when you stand for something, decisions are obvious.

Start a business, not a startup

Lots of things get better as they get shorter.

Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. Decide and move forward.

You can’t build on top of “We’ll decide later,” but you can build on top of “Done.”

Long projects zap morale. The longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch. Make the call, make progress, and get something out now—while you’ve got the motivation and momentum to do so.

The core of your business should be built around things that won’t change. Things that people are going to want today and ten years from now. Those are the things you should invest in.

what really matters is how to actually get customers and make money.

It’s not the gear that matters. It’s playing what you’ve got as well as you can. Your tone is in your fingers.

Don’t throw good time after bad work.

Even heroes need a fresh pair of eyes sometimes—someone else to give them a reality check.

yard only to have it take just thirty-five minutes. We humans are just plain bad at estimating. Even with these simple tasks, our estimates are often off by a factor of two or more.

Obscurity helps protect your ego and preserve your confidence.

build an audience. Speak, write, blog, tweet, make videos—whatever. Share information that’s valuable and you’ll slowly but surely build a loyal audience. Then when you need to get the word out, the right people will already be listening.

Instead of trying to outspend, outsell, or outsponsor competitors, try to out-teach them.

As a business owner, you should share everything you know too.

Don’t be afraid to show your flaws. Imperfections are real and people respond to real.

There’s a beauty to imperfection. This is the essence of the Japanese principle of wabi-sabi.

Wabi-sabi values character and uniqueness over a shiny facade.

Just as you cannot not communicate, you cannot not market:

NEVER HIRE ANYONE to do a job until you’ve tried to do it yourself first.

the curve flattens out. There’s surprisingly little difference between a candidate with six months of experience and one with six years.

How long someone’s been doing it is overrated. What matters is how well they’ve been doing it.

Writing is today’s currency for good ideas.

There’s never really a great way to say you’re sorry, but there are plenty of terrible ways.

A good apology accepts responsibility. It has no conditional if phrase attached.

You don’t create a culture. It happens. This is why new companies don’t have a culture. Culture is the by-product of consistent behavior.

mask of professionalism is a joke. We all know this. Yet small companies still try to emulate it.

Ideas are immortal. They last forever. What doesn’t last forever is inspiration.

If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now.