Rework – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Rethinking the way you work to take advantage of the new tools currently available.
Don’t allow negative people to bring you down, just do it
Learning from mistakes is overrated, successes are much more valuable
Planning is guessing, you can’t predict the future, so don’t try
Is growing really necessary? Why must you grow?
Don’t be a workaholic, it doesn’t improve anything and usually produces less quality work
Be a starter, start something now
Do something where you feel like you’re making a difference
Do something that you solves a problem you have
(Start, redundant with be a starter, start something now)
No time is no excuse, its just a lack of priorities
Have a point of view, an opinion
Really believe in what you do or do something else
Don’t use outside money
You need less than you think, do you need the money, employees, etc?
(Start a business, not a startup, redundant with no outside money?)
Don’t build to flip, build to hold and make great
(Less mass, less long term contracts, staff, permanent decisions, meetings, etc., redundant with you need less than you think)
Embrace constraints, forces focus
Don’t build half assed, build half a product
Start w/ the stuff you have to do
Ignore the details early on
Making the call is making progress
Be a curator, pick the best stuff to work on and ignore the rest
Less is often more, reduced product set, reduced menu, etc.
Focus on what won’t change, things that will always be in demand, people will want now and 10 years from now – ex. – reliability, affordability and practicality
It’s not about the equipment, its about the people
Sell your by-products – ex – 37signals selling rework
Launch early and often
Written specs are illusions of agreement
Ask why? why are you doing this, what problem are you solving? Is it really worth it?
Interruption is the enemy of productivity
Meetings are toxic
Good enough is fine, don’t get bogged down in complex solutions
Momentum fuels motivation, quick wins help provide that momentum
Don’t be a hero, you will waste a lot of time, get others involved earlier
Get enough sleep
Estimates suck, you can’t project the future, the bigger the project the more they suck
Long lists don’t get done, break them down into manageable pieces
Make tiny decisions, big decisions are hard to make and change
Don’t copy, you won’t know the product well enough to be good
Pour yourself into your product, make it something no one else can offer
Pick a fight, its a great way to differentiate yourself and attract followers
Underdo your competition, but do it better, smarter
Focus more on you than them, focusing on them causes a follower mentality
Say no by default, your customer does not always know what it wants
If I’d listened to my customers, I’d have given them a faster horse – Henry Ford
Let your customers outgrow you, don’t change your product to be specialized for your biggest customers
Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority, enthusiasm is not a true indicator of value
Make sure your product is at-home good, not just flashy and featureful in the store, but doesn’t do the basics well
Don’t write feature requests down, your customers will continue to remind you what they are
Welcome obscurity, it gives you time to perfect your product
Build an audience, an audience comes back to you day after day
Out teach your competition, differentiates you in your field
Share everything you know, don’t be afraid to share
Give people a backstage pass to what you do and how you’re doing it
Don’t seem too perfect, nobody likes fakes
Press releases are spam
Niche media over mass media, much more accessible
Emulate drug dealers, give a little away for free and they’ll keep coming back
Everything is marketing, answering the phone, emails, each product use, words you write, etc.
There is no such thing as the overnight sensation
When hiring, do it yourself first, you’ll understand what the position needs much better
Hire only when it hurts, hire to kill pain
Pass on great people if you have no position for them, don’t just hire to have them
Hiring a ton of people is like strangers at a cocktail party, nobody really talks and everyone is polite, not good for business
Resumes are ridiculous, if you can, try before you buy
Years of experience doesn’t really mean much
GPA’s don’t matter much
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education – Mark Twain
Delegators are dead weight, everyone must work and produce
Hire managers of one, they come up with their own goals and execute them
Hire the better writer, shows clearer thinking and better communications
The best are everywhere, don’t just work with local people
Own your own bad news, better off it be you telling the story
Speed changes everything – get back to people quickly
Apologize like your were talking to someone face to face, sincerely
Put everyone on the front lines, everyone answers calls and has customer contact
Take a deep breath, when you make changes there will be waves, give some time for them to settle
Culture happens, you don’t create it
Decisions are temporary, don’t make up problems you don’t have yet
The environment has more to do with getting great work than hiring rock stars
Don’t treat people like children or you’ll get children’s work
Send people home at 5, don’t make overtime the norm
Don’t create draconian policies, especially if talking about it would be enough
Sound like you, don’t try to sound too business like
Four letter words never to use in business: need, must, can’t easy, just, only and fast
Easy is a word that’s used to describe other people’s jobs.
Cousins: everyone, no one, always, never
Stop saying asap, everyone wants things done as soon as they can be done
Inspiration is perishable, ideas are immortal – you’ve got to do things while you have the inspiration!
