Jason Fried's presentation at Inc. Magazine's GrowCo Conference was thought-provoking so I bought several copies of his book, Rework, and asked everyone at Windward to read it. Opinions were divided. One of our "GenY" developers said there was no need for a book – they should have "just made up t-shirts that said 'Do More With Less'." Everyone was on board with holding fewer/shorter meetings and working smarter, not longer. Our founder thought the book was a waste because it stated the obvious. Someone else pointed out that if that were true, there would be a lot more companies with happy employees, who were operating efficiently, and offering great products & service.
It was a great discussion but since this is my blog, MY opinion will take up most of the space here! Several points spoke to me – principles that are important at Windward and to me personally. The top six being:
- Draw a line in the sand: Figure out what you stand for. It makes decision-making easier and faster.
- Focus on what won't change – what customers want now and will still want 10 years from now. For Windward, it's a product that's easy to use, makes use of tools you already know (MS Office) and is flexible.
- Be committed. Forget the "exit strategy" and work on building something that will be around for a long time. That's been our strategy from Day 1 – and we have no plans to change it.
- Be the anti-__________ (insert name of competitor here.) Windward was founded to take the frustrations out of reporting. So in addition to saying what we ARE, let's not be afraid to say what/who we're not. (I'm thinking new marketing campaign here…!)
- Just say, "I'm sorry." I'm guilty of trying to come up with wordy, nebulous apologies at times – something I would never do to a friend. This one goes into action immediately.
- Hire people who can write – clearly. We're now in a world where email communication (plus blogs, social media, etc., etc.) dominates and it's absolutely amazing how many people are appalling writers. (Note to colleges: Teach students to write! It's negligent to charge them what you are and they can't put sentences together.)
As much as I liked the book, there were two premises that I disagree with:
- Don't spend much time on, or write down, a plan. Fried & Hansson point out that most plans are guesses – and there's a fair amount of truth to that. But when customers and employees are depending on you, planning is essential.
- The assertion that there is no need to keep track of customer requests is ludicrous. They state that the ideas you hear over and over again are the ones to pay attention to. Have they not heard of the squeaky wheel? Those customers that happen to be louder and more assertive – but don't necessarily offer the best ideas for your product or company? Enough said.
The bottom line is this: I highly recommend you read Rework. There are lots of ideas that will make your organization more efficient and it's an easy read because they get to the point quickly. An idea, a quick explanation and an example or two per chapter -- no droning on and on.
And neither will I.
* Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
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