Part manifesto for the Web 2.0 generation and part ‘Screw You’ to just about anyone who doesn’t get it, [Rework](http://37signals.com/rework/) is a short but sweet business book for small to medium, agile companies.
Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hanson’s contrarian style matches their work and life philosophy — the duo eschew traditional business models, pulling down everything from meetings to planning, from traditional office culture to going it alone without investment.
## Re: Work. Are you doing it wrong?
Fried and Hanson, founders of [37 Signals](http://37signals.com/ “The guys who brought us Basecamp”) and creators of [Basecamp](http://basecamphq.com/) know a thing or two about starting a business. Perhaps they were lucky, scratching the right itch at the right time, solving their own problems and hitting an untapped need in a host of other online startups — but their story (and attitude) has taken on near-mythical status in Web Developer circles.
Their first book [Getting Real](http://gettingreal.37signals.com/) outlined their philosophy, it’s *just* an eBook — but an ebook that has sold 30,000 copies generating well over half a million dollars for the company. (You can [read Getting Real for free online](http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php “Read it free online”).)
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## Rework – a business book for the rest of us ##
> “Every once in a while, a book comes out of left field that changes just about everything. This is one of those books. Ignore it at your peril.” – Seth Godin
Rework is explicitly designed for a more general audience, web businesses are just like any other business in many ways. Rework is a bumper book of better business basics for everyone from freelancers and contractors all the way up to entrepreneurs, business owners and CEOs.
This is Fried and Hanson at their best, they don’t care a hoot about what the old-guard are saying:
> “They say a lot of things, they’re wrong. Screw the Fortune 500… we sell to the fortune 5 million!”
Fried and Hanson describe Rework as “a different kind of business book for a different kind of business”, it’s written for people who want to do something they love and get paid for it. It tells us that if we don’t have the time, money or commitment to go it alone then you are wrong. The new reality is one where technology is free and one person can now do the work of 3 people — all without working more than 40 hours a week.
> “Work smarter and kick ass! You don’t even need an office.”
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#### The book is chock-full of challenging assertions and great illustations
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## Ignore the “Real World
Traditional business common-sense is dull and stultifying they say. Something that gives off an air or pessimism and despair and attitude that conceals an underlying lack of faith in human nature.
Their opponents say ‘it won’t work in the real world’, ‘You are wasting your time’ but Fried and Hanson say “Don’t believe them! We fail the ‘real world’ test in all kinds of ways. The real world isn’t a place, it’s an excuse”.
Rework is a delight to read, we’ve heard it all before of course (Seth Godin and a whole host of Business 2.0 writers are all singing from the same hymn sheet), but Fried and Hanson have such an honest, to the point style it’s hard not to be won over by their optimism and aphorisms.
They turn principles on their head, the agile adage of ‘Fail, and fail fast’ becomes “Learn from your successes not your failures”. Fried and Hanson tell us with confidence that with this more positive attitude you’ll probably do it even better next time, success is the experience that counts, and this is how nature works, it builds on what works. And it’s hard to argue with that.
### Planning is guessing!
“Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things that can’t be controlled”, they say. Instead they suggest we call our plans “strategic guesses”. Plans put blinders on you and are inconsistent with improvisation, we should look at what makes sense **today**. You have the most information when you are actually *doing* something. Plans, at the beginning of a project, are the *worst* time for plans. Give up on the guess work. Decide what you are going to do this week. It’s okay to wing it.
### Laugh the Workaholics and Entrepreneurs.
Workaholism, they say, is unnecessary and stupid. Throwing hours at problems is not the optimal solution. Do you create problems to justify your existence? Do you know someone in a corporation who does? They bet you do. No one makes sharp decisions when they are tired, “stop fixating on details” the **real** hero is not the guy who stays late working all hours to get a project done. The real hero gets his work done in time and is already home.
### Enough with entrepreneurs already!
For Fried and Hanson Entrepreneur talk “smells like a members only club”. **Everyone** should be encouraged to start their own businesses, they say. A lot of people are doing what they love on their own terms. Let’s call them ‘starters’ intead.
During a recent [interview with Jason Calacanis](http://thisweekinstartups.com/2010/03/twist-46-with-david-heinemeier-hansson/ “interview with Jason Calacanis”), David Heinemeier-Hansson say you should always be working on your best idea “there is no reason for you to want to sell your company because there is no guarantee that you will come up with as good an idea, or even a better idea, the next time around.” Hansson still sees himself running 37signals in 20 years time because he is working on his best idea now. Jason Fried went further to write a [blog post blasting the sale of Mint.com to Intuit](http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1927-the-next-generation-bends-over “blog post blasting the sale of Mint.com”) because Aaron Patzer (Mint’s founder) ‘sold out’. (Hat tip to [Marc Gayle](http://marcgayle.com/2010/04/08/why-jason-fried-david-heinemeir-hanson-are-wrong/ “Why Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hanson Are Wrong About One Thing | Marc Gayle on Startups & Ideas”))
### Don’t think… just GO!
> “Make a dent in the universe.”
“I had the idea for eBay before eBay [whinge, moan]“. You can’t sell ideas. Make stuff. Stanley Kubrick’s advice to film-makers was just as simple, start creating. Ideas are cheap. The real deal is how well you execute.
It’s been shown again and again that we all need to feel we are making a difference in our work, that we are part of something important and our efforts need to make us feel value. People need to notice when you stop doing what you do; “what you do is your legacy. Don’t just sit around waiting for something to happen to you”. Don’t think about ideas, make them happen.
### Scratch your own itch
The key message when deciding on what to create is to test your own stuff on yourself. Do YOU like it? Do you want it? These are the principles that have made [37 Signals](http://37signals.com) so hugely successful. They were a design shop and they needed a project management system that didn’t totally suck. So they built one, what became Basecamp. They needed a way to talk to each other, so they created Campfire. Today they’re developing new tols to save their own problems, including the lovely looking and (deliberately) simple rapid-prototyping tool [Draft for iPad](http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2420-launch-draft-for-ipad)
> “We knew what we wanted when we developed high-rise. When you solve your own problem you know what success looks and feels like, it’s a real problem you are experiencing.”
Basically, have faith in your own product, fall in love with what you are making you can’t go wrong.
### Draw a line in the sand.
Why are you doing what you are doing? If you know then your superfans might get a sense of it too. If no one is upset by what you’re doing you’re probably not doing it right. And it’s ok to loose customers to gain superfans.
Fried and Hanson give a lovely example of a local bakery. ‘We close when the bread runs out’… the bakers make as much as they think they’ll need, and they make it well. They don’t create a surplus that will go stale towards the end of the day, they love bread and they want their customers to feel that love so when the good stuff is gone it’s gone, till tomorrow.
###### By [Michael Rose, Editor](/author/michaelrose)
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#### Buy the book today
* The book is available from Amazon — [Rework: Amazon.co.uk: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745 “Rework: Amazon.co.uk: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson: Books”)
* You can read [Rework sample chapters online](http://s3.amazonaws.com/37assets/svn/Rework-by-Jason-Fried-and-David-Heinemeier-Hansson-Excerpts.pdf “Rework essays”)
