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I read Rework and Remote (previous Jason/DHH books) an although full of common-sense ideas that I applauded, they were quite similar in terms of content. This

I read Rework and Remote (previous Jason/DHH books) an although full of common-sense ideas that I applauded, they were quite similar in terms of content. This new book seems to be kind of a mix of those previous books.

csa 8y ago
Some people still haven’t heard the message. It’s possible that a new book released at a new time can reach a new(?)audience that will have he potential to adjust their behavior.
- __exit__ 8y ago
  The message may be heard, but putting it into practice is the more difficult task in my opinion. Changing a whole company's (either big or small) policy regarding meetings/working hours/etc... is quite a challenge Still, the new book's cover may attract an audience that is not familiar with DHH/Jason/Basecamp's opinions on work/life balance.
  - dominicr 8y ago
    Yes, company dynamics are really complex and this book will only have an effect if the people reading it are the company leaders. But they're also reading "10 habits of successful CEOs" articles that tell them to wake up at 4am to send emails! Ultimately correlation isn't causation. Working 40 hours doesn't guarantee success by itself and neither does waking up at 4am.
- quickthrower2 8y ago
  It might take 10's or 100's of years for the culture shift to happen (in a similar way to political opinions changing). Peopleware [1] came out in 1987 for example, so in theory we should have learnt something in 30 years. Software is also kind of a victim of it's own success. Once a software company has some traction, if lucky, it can be run badly and still be very profitable. The owners may have some hubris as to their business prowess and they know how things should be done. They may not be willing to change and question themselves, and want to change the culture. They'll probably not take time to take in all of that exit interview feedback, and analyse it and improve from it. I think a lot of companies are run on intuition and not evidence based or well thought out ideas. That is why managers think a noisy office is better, I've worked in offices with the obligatory "why's it so quiet in here, don't you guys ever talk" joke from senior management on many occasion. Belittling of developers and putting them in their place as the 'misfits' of the organization. And as time as gone on time tracking has gone from reasonable to insane. "Why did you spend X hours on this JIRA ticket". JIRA has given management the data to take mismanagement to the next level. To change this mindset requires these people to retire or go out of business, and for fresh blood who have learned these lessons to take over. That's going to take about another 30 years and hopefully the next generation will do better. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Projects_and_Teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Project...
fouc 8y ago
How much overlap was there really? I vaguely remember it being maybe 20-30% overlap.
combatentropy 8y ago
But the best of all was their first, Getting Real.

csa 8y ago

Some people still haven’t heard the message. It’s possible that a new book released at a new time can reach a new(?)audience that will have he potential to adjust their behavior.

__exit__ 8y ago
The message may be heard, but putting it into practice is the more difficult task in my opinion. Changing a whole company's (either big or small) policy regarding meetings/working hours/etc... is quite a challenge Still, the new book's cover may attract an audience that is not familiar with DHH/Jason/Basecamp's opinions on work/life balance.
- dominicr 8y ago
  Yes, company dynamics are really complex and this book will only have an effect if the people reading it are the company leaders. But they're also reading "10 habits of successful CEOs" articles that tell them to wake up at 4am to send emails! Ultimately correlation isn't causation. Working 40 hours doesn't guarantee success by itself and neither does waking up at 4am.
quickthrower2 8y ago
It might take 10's or 100's of years for the culture shift to happen (in a similar way to political opinions changing). Peopleware [1] came out in 1987 for example, so in theory we should have learnt something in 30 years. Software is also kind of a victim of it's own success. Once a software company has some traction, if lucky, it can be run badly and still be very profitable. The owners may have some hubris as to their business prowess and they know how things should be done. They may not be willing to change and question themselves, and want to change the culture. They'll probably not take time to take in all of that exit interview feedback, and analyse it and improve from it. I think a lot of companies are run on intuition and not evidence based or well thought out ideas. That is why managers think a noisy office is better, I've worked in offices with the obligatory "why's it so quiet in here, don't you guys ever talk" joke from senior management on many occasion. Belittling of developers and putting them in their place as the 'misfits' of the organization. And as time as gone on time tracking has gone from reasonable to insane. "Why did you spend X hours on this JIRA ticket". JIRA has given management the data to take mismanagement to the next level. To change this mindset requires these people to retire or go out of business, and for fresh blood who have learned these lessons to take over. That's going to take about another 30 years and hopefully the next generation will do better. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Projects_and_Teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Project...

fouc 8y ago

How much overlap was there really? I vaguely remember it being maybe 20-30% overlap.

combatentropy 8y ago

But the best of all was their first, Getting Real.