Rework By Jason Fried — Summary — Muthusblog

Jason Fried from Basecamp, along with his coworker David Heinemeier, came up with the book Rework in 2010. Rework talks about reimagining the way you work.

If you want to start a business or your someone who wants to change the way you work, then rework is a must-read for you.

37 Signals

37 Signals started as a web design agency in 1999. They took on small clients decided to build a product to manage them.

They didn’t want to use email and Microsoft project to handle their clients and decided to come up with a software of their own which turned out to be Basecamp.

They had an itch and scratched it for themselves. They didn’t think too much of it, but it eventually took off. Clients loved the software and now it’s a multi-million dollar business.

This way of launching a product normally goes against the grain. You’re often told to find a problem that exists in the marketplace, then come up with a solution.

But What if you need a software, a product, or a service? And if you figure it out yourself, there’s a good chance somebody else might need it too.

Rework

Rework is broken down into 12 short chapters and takes only a couple of hours to read.

Remote work right now seems to be the norm, but 10 years ago it was not the case. A lot of companies want the best talent, but they expect them to be next door or within a 10-mile radius.

The best people are all over the world and Basecamp had a small team of 28 members while they were starting out and they were spread across the world and worked remotely when remote work was not a thing.

Here are some key takeaways from Rework:-

Planning is guessing — Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you can’t actually control. Sometimes it’s okay to wing it.

Don’t be a workaholic — Workaholics make regular employees feel bad about themselves for working regular hours. It’s not a sign of honor to pull all nighters it simply means you are inefficient. Don’t work more hours, but work better hours.

Scratch your own itch — Bill Bowerman, the iconic track coach from Oregon, realized his team needed better running shoes as the ones they were using were wearing out easily. He went into his workshop and poured rubber into the family waffle iron and came up with Nike’s famous Waffle shoe. Solve your own problem and people will love with what you’re making.

You need less than you think — when you try to cater to everyone; you end up satisfying no one. Have a minimalist approach Less is more. If you’ve watched Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare’s, it’s pretty clear that all the failing restaurants try to make too many dishes and quality is compromised. Trim it down and go niche.

Focus on what won’t change — At 37 Signals the primary focus was speed, simplicity and affordability. 10 years down the line you never go “Man I wish that software was expensive and hard to use”. Remember, fashion fades but features stay.

Something that holds all of us back is the launch date. It’s never ready and we always make excuses to let ourselves off the hook.

There’s never going to be a perfect time to put it out on the market. Once your product or service does what it has to get it out.

Conclusion

Inspiration is perishable. It has an expiration date. If you have an idea, act on it now don’t leave it for later, if you do you’ll never get to it.

Why work doesn’t happen at work | Jason Fried

What you do is what matters, not what you think or say or plan.

Jason Fried, Rework

Originally published at https://muthusblog.com.