REWORK – Change the Way You Work Forever

ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson is itself a Rework'ed version of its first voluminous draft. Jason & David are founders of 37 Signals - a multimillion dollar company which does far less than the competition.

Rework vociferously challenges existing business theories of Scale of Economy, Growth, Planning, Organization Culture, Marketing, Hiring and Competition. 

The book portrays a new world of business where long hours, large capital, scale are of no significance. Jason & David squeeze all their experiences of building a small & successful business with strong conviction in the book.

Jason & David believe there is no wrong in finding the right size and staying there. They would certainly be amused by Unicorns – billion dollar startups capturing everyone’s imagination today. The question remains whether scale should be the mantra for organizations?

“Bigger is Better” was probably relevant in bygone days; today “Small is Beautiful” is in vogue.

Jason & David disregard the whole process of planning. They say - “When you turn guesses into plans, you enter a danger zone. Plans let the past drive the future. They put blinders on you”.

Authors believe excess of capital, people, infrastructure is distraction for businesses. A starter should focus on the core product with minimum possible infra. There is nothing wrong in being frugal. They go on saying - “Do you really need fancy business cards, letterhead, brochures?”

There is no time, take quick decisions, start now, move forward, launch with half a product – each chapter let readers feel the significance of being small, agile & focused. There are numerous examples along the way exemplifying each point.

I look for one big idea from every book. The one big learning from REWORK is - Let your customers outgrow you. As your customers grow, they would require more complex solutions. You have a choice – either to grow into them by possibly intimidating your existing customers or let them outgrow you. Jason & David have kept the products of 37 Signals basic with absolute no frills losing many customers but retaining many other loyal ones.     

This book makes so much sense today when large organizations are in trouble for their complex structures and lethargic attitude. The environment has never been more volatile, regulations never been so ever changing. It’s probably possible only for a small company to change the business model to suit the requirements of the day.

There are always by-products along with the core product. By-products are usually ignored, but they could be of great value. REWORK is by-product of 37 Signals. I could imagine the simplicity of 37 Signals' core products when by-product is such a beauty.

Read REWORK for all new perspectives towards business.