5 ms·

Rework is now in stores

76 points by dawie 17y ago

teej 17y ago
I hope that this book doesn't turn out to be a "repackaging" of the same old 37Signals content I can get anywhere else. Thanks to Amazon, I got my copy at 9am this morning, but I haven't had a chance to pick through it yet. We'll see.
- hasanove 17y ago
  according to comments made on 37signals podcast about the book, it actually is a sort of repackaging (in a broad sense) of all the posts, comments etc. expressed by them during last 10 years.
  - gr366 17y ago
    Which I think is fine. Certainly more digestible to someone who has not been exposed to 37signals and doesn't want to read thousands of blog posts. There's a value-add to editing and distilling.
    - _delirium 17y ago
      Yeah, I think it's a nice way to go for blogs that have built up some amount of story/philosophy/content that might be interesting to an audience that wasn't following from the beginning. If you've never heard of some blog that's well-known in a niche area, and someone points you to it in its 8th year as representative of a particular philosophy, it's nearly impossible to catch up--- you're stuck digging through thousands of blog posts, some of which are important and others of which were just the usual one-off bloggy things (e.g. links to a YouTube video). There's actually an academic philosopher whose blog I follow who tends to get exasperated that commenters misinterpreted some point he made 300 blog posts ago, or clearly must be unfamiliar with his work because he already discussed this question 250 posts ago. I always end up thinking, well if you would just write that stuff up into book.... I've also seen books that are literally the blog entries put onto dead trees, though, in original, unedited sequential order, which is definitely not the way to go.
- jasonfried 17y ago
  If you're familiar with everything we've ever said, and all our posts and talks, then this book may not be for you. There are definitely some new ideas in here, but if you already know it all then there's probably not much more for you to learn in REWORK. But you are amongst the 0.000...% of the world who's ever heard of us.
  - davidw 17y ago
    I think anyone who is on this particular site who hasn't heard of you and read significant amounts of your material got really lost on the internets.
    - webwright 17y ago
      That assumption might be wrong. At a Y Combinator meetup in Seattle, someone asked me, "So where does Y Combinator get money to invest in startups?" My response was "Well, Paul and the other partners made money from previous startups..." His response: "Paul Allen?"
axod 17y ago
The management today review of this is actually quite interesting http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/rss/article/985294 http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/rss/article/985294 37signals brush it off as criticism that should just be ignored because their website includes the word "management", but a lot of what they say is pretty near the mark IMHO. For example: The authors' advice is so sweeping and deliberately confrontational that it misses all the subtleties that actually make businesses succeed. We are told: 'Meetings are toxic.' In reality, good meetings are good and bad meetings are not good, but don't try and make a name for your software company by issuing such over-heated generalisations. The other thing they may not have realized is management today is a UK publication, and we're pretty averse to 'motivational' things over here. It's just not really our culture.
- dsplittgerber 17y ago
  Well, polarizing an issue (everyone has an opinion on) sells. How much less publicity would 37signals get if it were just for their products?
- euroclydon 17y ago
  we're pretty averse to 'motivational' things over here. It's just not really our culture. Wow, I hate tea, so I haven't had much luck associating with my roots... until now!
- jasonfried 17y ago
  "37signals brush it off as criticism that should just be ignored because their website includes the word "management"" Where did I brush it off and suggest it should be ignored? It's valid criticism coming from this fellow's perspective. Everyone brings their own perspective and attitude to their critique. I would encourage everyone to read all reviews from all perspectives. And then read the book and make up your own mind.
  - axod 17y ago
    a publication called Management Today (which brags about being home to “one of the most senior readerships of any business title”) disapproves? That sounds about right. Didn't sound like you took it that seriously :) I'm not trying to start a fight though, and I'd agree - everyone should read a few reviews, and if they like this sort of book, buy it.
oscardelben 17y ago
I have read nearly half of it on my kindle. It's quite short, to the point, and what you probably would expect from them. They talk about how they run a business, and how you can start one by giving practical principles. For example in one chapter they say don't take external funding if possible, and that you have to treat it like a business, not a startup. So far I think it's a great book. Many principles are not new (they talked about most of them in the past), but I still think it's worth it, regardless you having a company or not. Now I'll go ahead and read some more pages.
colinplamondon 17y ago
Read it over a long lunch- it feels like an overedited SvN greatest hits. That's both a good thing and a bad thing- it's like reading their best posts in a few hours. Awesome! But, as a book, it's pretty terrible- there aren't really any anecdotes, any stories, any discussions of turning points or moments of realization. What would have been more interesting is each of these essays (Outside Money is Plan Z!) written around an actual story from their company history. A time they considered outside money, a month where they fucked up cashflow, the moment they had a Series A in corporate savings, a story of how they managed their finances versus competitors who took investment, their first full-time hire and the company's numbers at that time, anything to really dig into why they have come to these conclusions. I agree with most of those conclusions, in fact, as a book the format sucks. Felix Dennis' How to Get Rich is a great example of succint, important points intertwined with stories that build up the background of each of those point. That makes them more memorable, and makes for a MUCH more enjoyable read. That's a book. This is a greatest hits of a blog. It's good for what it is, but it could have been a whole lot better.
thenduks 17y ago
I had one waiting for me bright and early this morning thanks for Amazon. It's going to be hard deciding between Final Fantasy 13 (long time fan... I can't help myself!) and reading this cover-to-cover tonight.
aaronbrethorst 17y ago
The back cover could've been part of a guerilla marketing campaign for Fight Club. I had absolutely no interest in reading Rework until now, and now I don't think I can refuse it. 37Signals' marketing is quite impressive.
- axod 17y ago
  Really? The back page is a real turn off for me. "Fire workaholics", "Meetings are toxic" etc etc It's all BS. It's like some stupid advert for a new diet where you can eat more food and lose weight at the same time!
  - aaronbrethorst 17y ago
    It absolutely is BS, but—for whatever reason—it works on me.
davidw 17y ago
In the spirit of "doing less", Squeezed Books aims to take the actual useful material from books like this, and summarize it on our web site. I'll buy you the business book of your choosing if you're the first person to post a good summary of this book to Squeezed Books. (I reserve the right to choose what's 'good', and also the right to veto any absurdly expensive business books you find). http://www.squeezedbooks.com http://www.squeezedbooks.com
- davidw 17y ago
  Have the people from reddit who are opposed to promoting your own stuff arrived here?

76 points by dawie 17y ago

teej 17y ago

I hope that this book doesn't turn out to be a "repackaging" of the same old 37Signals content I can get anywhere else. Thanks to Amazon, I got my copy at 9am this morning, but I haven't had a chance to pick through it yet. We'll see.

hasanove 17y ago
according to comments made on 37signals podcast about the book, it actually is a sort of repackaging (in a broad sense) of all the posts, comments etc. expressed by them during last 10 years.
- gr366 17y ago
  Which I think is fine. Certainly more digestible to someone who has not been exposed to 37signals and doesn't want to read thousands of blog posts. There's a value-add to editing and distilling.
  - _delirium 17y ago
    Yeah, I think it's a nice way to go for blogs that have built up some amount of story/philosophy/content that might be interesting to an audience that wasn't following from the beginning. If you've never heard of some blog that's well-known in a niche area, and someone points you to it in its 8th year as representative of a particular philosophy, it's nearly impossible to catch up--- you're stuck digging through thousands of blog posts, some of which are important and others of which were just the usual one-off bloggy things (e.g. links to a YouTube video). There's actually an academic philosopher whose blog I follow who tends to get exasperated that commenters misinterpreted some point he made 300 blog posts ago, or clearly must be unfamiliar with his work because he already discussed this question 250 posts ago. I always end up thinking, well if you would just write that stuff up into book.... I've also seen books that are literally the blog entries put onto dead trees, though, in original, unedited sequential order, which is definitely not the way to go.
jasonfried 17y ago
If you're familiar with everything we've ever said, and all our posts and talks, then this book may not be for you. There are definitely some new ideas in here, but if you already know it all then there's probably not much more for you to learn in REWORK. But you are amongst the 0.000...% of the world who's ever heard of us.
- davidw 17y ago
  I think anyone who is on this particular site who hasn't heard of you and read significant amounts of your material got really lost on the internets.
  - webwright 17y ago
    That assumption might be wrong. At a Y Combinator meetup in Seattle, someone asked me, "So where does Y Combinator get money to invest in startups?" My response was "Well, Paul and the other partners made money from previous startups..." His response: "Paul Allen?"

axod 17y ago

The management today review of this is actually quite interesting http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/rss/article/985294 http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/rss/article/985294 37signals brush it off as criticism that should just be ignored because their website includes the word "management", but a lot of what they say is pretty near the mark IMHO. For example: The authors' advice is so sweeping and deliberately confrontational that it misses all the subtleties that actually make businesses succeed. We are told: 'Meetings are toxic.' In reality, good meetings are good and bad meetings are not good, but don't try and make a name for your software company by issuing such over-heated generalisations. The other thing they may not have realized is management today is a UK publication, and we're pretty averse to 'motivational' things over here. It's just not really our culture.

dsplittgerber 17y ago
Well, polarizing an issue (everyone has an opinion on) sells. How much less publicity would 37signals get if it were just for their products?
euroclydon 17y ago
we're pretty averse to 'motivational' things over here. It's just not really our culture. Wow, I hate tea, so I haven't had much luck associating with my roots... until now!
jasonfried 17y ago
"37signals brush it off as criticism that should just be ignored because their website includes the word "management"" Where did I brush it off and suggest it should be ignored? It's valid criticism coming from this fellow's perspective. Everyone brings their own perspective and attitude to their critique. I would encourage everyone to read all reviews from all perspectives. And then read the book and make up your own mind.
- axod 17y ago
  a publication called Management Today (which brags about being home to “one of the most senior readerships of any business title”) disapproves? That sounds about right. Didn't sound like you took it that seriously :) I'm not trying to start a fight though, and I'd agree - everyone should read a few reviews, and if they like this sort of book, buy it.

oscardelben 17y ago

I have read nearly half of it on my kindle. It's quite short, to the point, and what you probably would expect from them. They talk about how they run a business, and how you can start one by giving practical principles. For example in one chapter they say don't take external funding if possible, and that you have to treat it like a business, not a startup. So far I think it's a great book. Many principles are not new (they talked about most of them in the past), but I still think it's worth it, regardless you having a company or not. Now I'll go ahead and read some more pages.

colinplamondon 17y ago

Read it over a long lunch- it feels like an overedited SvN greatest hits. That's both a good thing and a bad thing- it's like reading their best posts in a few hours. Awesome! But, as a book, it's pretty terrible- there aren't really any anecdotes, any stories, any discussions of turning points or moments of realization. What would have been more interesting is each of these essays (Outside Money is Plan Z!) written around an actual story from their company history. A time they considered outside money, a month where they fucked up cashflow, the moment they had a Series A in corporate savings, a story of how they managed their finances versus competitors who took investment, their first full-time hire and the company's numbers at that time, anything to really dig into why they have come to these conclusions. I agree with most of those conclusions, in fact, as a book the format sucks. Felix Dennis' How to Get Rich is a great example of succint, important points intertwined with stories that build up the background of each of those point. That makes them more memorable, and makes for a MUCH more enjoyable read. That's a book. This is a greatest hits of a blog. It's good for what it is, but it could have been a whole lot better.

thenduks 17y ago

I had one waiting for me bright and early this morning thanks for Amazon. It's going to be hard deciding between Final Fantasy 13 (long time fan... I can't help myself!) and reading this cover-to-cover tonight.

aaronbrethorst 17y ago

The back cover could've been part of a guerilla marketing campaign for Fight Club. I had absolutely no interest in reading Rework until now, and now I don't think I can refuse it. 37Signals' marketing is quite impressive.

axod 17y ago
Really? The back page is a real turn off for me. "Fire workaholics", "Meetings are toxic" etc etc It's all BS. It's like some stupid advert for a new diet where you can eat more food and lose weight at the same time!
- aaronbrethorst 17y ago
  It absolutely is BS, but—for whatever reason—it works on me.

davidw 17y ago

In the spirit of "doing less", Squeezed Books aims to take the actual useful material from books like this, and summarize it on our web site. I'll buy you the business book of your choosing if you're the first person to post a good summary of this book to Squeezed Books. (I reserve the right to choose what's 'good', and also the right to veto any absurdly expensive business books you find). http://www.squeezedbooks.com http://www.squeezedbooks.com

davidw 17y ago
Have the people from reddit who are opposed to promoting your own stuff arrived here?