Authors: Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Release year: 2010

Publisher: Crown Business

My Review

This book is kind of edgy—as is everything I’ve read from the fine folks at 37signals. I’d previously read Shape Up by Ryan Singer, so I had a sense of the discourse I was getting myself into. The people at 37signals are contrarians who think for themselves. When the zeitgeist opposes the common-sense ideas that work for them, they don’t just push back—they double down.

Naturally, I was excited to dive in. However, I misunderstood what the book was about. I expected a book about shifting left—Agile speak for testing ideas early so you don’t have to rework everything later. I blame the lack of a back-cover summary for my false expectations. Instead, this is a book about reworking work—an effort by Fried and Heinemeier Hansson to rethink how we operate professionally. I know… it kind of sounds like the same thing. But no—this book is more of a crusade, with the authors marching through every corner of modern business and telling us what we’re doing wrong.

This isn’t about being agile. There’s no grand theory of how work should be structured or distributed. It’s simply a collection of what has worked for 37signals—blunt, hard-won lessons from people who’ve opted out of conventional wisdom and never looked back.

While I was initially disappointed (a book about shifting left would have been great—and in some ways Shape Up already covers that), I can’t complain. Rework is packed with bold, snarky quotes that I’ll no doubt enjoy pulling out in conversation. Here’s a taste:

(p. 26) Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.

(p. 69) Build half a product, not a half-assed product. You’re better off with a kick-ass half than a half-assed whole.

(p. 256) Failing to trust your employees is awfully expensive.

You can check out my quote randomizer for more examples or scroll down to the Star Quotes below. I find this style refreshing. It’s not how I tend to communicate—I prefer softer language—but it’s thought-provoking and memorable. I respect that they’re so confident in their convictions.

Two ideas stood out as especially worth highlighting:

(p. 118) “We decided that if anything takes one of us longer than two weeks, we’ve got to bring other people in to take a look. They might not do any work on the task, but at least they can review it quickly and give their two cents.”

I love this. Too often, people feel pressure to deliver on what they’ve claimed. But when something starts dragging, guilt takes over, and they begin hiding the problem. Instead, that’s the moment to bring in the team. You’re not failing—you’re inviting support. That’s what a team is for.

(p. 128) Don’t prioritize with numbers or labels. Prioritize visually. Put the most important thing at the top.

It’s bold to put this out there, especially with how much effort agile teams invest in estimation—think of all the chatter around “Weighted Shortest Job First.” The authors suggest forgetting all that. Just put what matters most at the top.

I love this. It mirrors what product owners are supposed to do: order the backlog. Full stop. In my own daily task lists, I do the same—I rank tasks by importance, no points or numbers needed. It works. I plan to remember this next time someone asks me to estimate a task. Let’s see how that goes!

In conclusion, while the book has no real narrative thread—just loosely organized chapters, unnumbered even—it still worked for me. As a self-proclaimed Star Quotes junkie, I had fun with it.

If you plan to pick up this book, I suggest researching the authors first. Not because they can’t be trusted—quite the opposite—but because they’ve reached galaxy-brain status. What works for them might not work for you, at least not right away. Their experience comes from a very particular context, and without that, it’s easy to apply their advice in the wrong situations.

The cover warns: “Ignore this book at your own peril.” That might be true—but I’d also say: use it at your own peril, too. Especially if you don’t take the time to understand the thinking behind the snappy one-liners.

If you can hold their bold ideas loosely, reflect critically, and adapt rather than adopt, you’ll probably dig it.

How can I use this?

The success of 37signals can be largely attributed to their founders’ habit of challenging conventional wisdom and acting on their contrarian insights.

My reality is different from theirs, and I don’t see a direct reason to apply their teachings wholesale. I haven’t earned their level of autonomy (yet).

Still, there are gems here. I may not act on them immediately, but I’ll keep them in mind. They remind me what a contrarian mindset looks like— bold, clear, and willing to push against norms. That’s worth remembering.

Why must I use this?

Because I’ve often defaulted to being a follower. It feels good to be reminded to think for myself, to question assumptions, and to really understand why we do what we do—and what we might improve.

When will I use this?

In conversations, to gently challenge others’ ideas. On LinkedIn, to spark discussion with spicy quotes. Worst case? I use the book as a shield or a scapegoat.

Félix rating:
👍

📚 Vocabulary

Judo solution: A solution that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort.
Wabi-sabi: Value character and uniqueness over a shiny façade. Cracks and scratches in things should be embraced.

💡 New ideas

To be able to out-teach your competition, you need to systematically learn faster than them.
Listen to what your customers want, but don’t track it. The really important stuff won’t go away.

⭐ Star Quotes

Introduction

First

Takedowns

(p. 17) Evolution doesn’t linger on past failures, it’s always building upon what worked. So should you.
(p. 20) Give up on the guesswork. Decide what you’re going to do this week, not this year. Figure out the next most important thing and do that. Make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance.
(p. 20) Working without a plan may seem scary. But blindly following a plan that has no relationship with reality is even scarier.
(p. 25) Workaholism doesn’t mean you care more or get more done It just means you work more, creating more problems than you solve.
(p. 26) Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.

(p. 41) Don’t let yourself off the hook with excuses. It’s entirely your responsibility to make your dreams come true.
(p. 43) Strong opinions aren’t free. For everyone who loves you, there will be others who hate you. If no one’s upset by what you’re saying, you’re probably not pushing hard enough. (And you’re probably boring, too.)
(p. 46) A mission statement, you must live it or leave it.
(p. 48) Know the difference between genuine affection and a robot that’s programmed to say nice things.
(p. 62) The more expensive it is to make a change, the less likely you are to make it.

Progress

(p. 67) Constraints are advantages in disguise that force you to be creative.
(p. 69) Build half a product, not a half-assed product. You’re better off with a kick-ass half than a half-assed whole.
(p. 77) Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Decisions are progress.
(p. 80) ⭐ ⭐ You don’t make a great museum by putting all the art in the world into a single room. That’s a warehouse. What makes a museum great is the stuff that’s not on the walls. Someone says no.
(p. 90) ✅ When you make something, you always make something else. Everything has a by-product. Observant and creative business minds spot these by-products and see opportunities.

Productivity

(p. 100) The answer to these questions will help you better understand the work itself:
- Why are you working on X?
- What is this for?
- Who benefits?
- What’s the motivation behind it?
(p. 101) ⭐ It’s easy to confuse enthusiasm with usefulness. Cool wears off. Useful never does.
(p. 101) Adding something is easy; adding value is hard.
(p. 104) Interruption is the enemy of productivity.
(p. 104) If you’re constantly staying late and working weekends, it’s not because there’s too much work to be done. It’s because you’re not getting enough done at work. And the reason is interruptions.
(p. 108) If it only takes seven minutes to accomplish a meeting’s goal, then that’s all the time you should spend. Don’t stretch seven minutes into thirty.
(p. 113) When good enough gets the job done, go for it. You can usually turn good enough into great later.
(p. 119) People automatically associate quitting with failure, but sometimes that’s exactly what you should do. If you already spent too much time on something that wasn’t worth it, walk away.
(p. 121) What distinguishes people who are ten times more effective than the norm is not that they work ten times as hard; it’s that they use their creativity to come up with solutions that require one-tenth of the effort.
(p. 122) If you encounter someone who’s acting like a fool, there’s a good chance that person is suffering from sleep deprivation.
(p. 127) Long to-do lists are guilt trips. At a certain point, you just stop looking at it because it makes you feel bad.
(p. 130) When you make tiny decisions, you can’t make big mistakes.

Competitors

(p. 136) ⭐ How do you know if you’re copying someone? If someone else is doing the bulk of the work, you’re copying. Be influenced, but don’t steal.
(p. 144) Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to the competition. Instead of one-upping, try one-downing.
(p. 148) It’s not worth paying much attention to the competition because worrying about the competition quickly turns into an obsession.
(p. 148) When you spend time worrying about someone else, you can’t spend that time improving yourself. Focus on competitors too much and you end up diluting your own vision.
(p. 149) You can’t beat someone who’s making the rules. You need to redefine the rules, not just build something slightly better.
(p. 149) If you merely replicate competitors, there’s no point to your existence. Even if you wind up losing, it’s better to go down fighting for what you believe in instead of just imitating others.

Evolution

(p. 153) Start getting in to the habit of saying no—even to many of your best ideas. This is to get your priorities straight. You rarely regret saying no. But you often wind up regretting saying yes.
(p. 153) Deal with the brief discomfort of confrontation up front and avoid the long-term regret.
(p. 153) Don’t believe that “customer is always right” stuff. Making a few vocal customers happy isn’t worth it if it ruins the product for everyone else.
- BUT! If you’re not willing to yield to a customer request, be polite and explain why. People are surprisingly understanding when you take the time to explain your point of view.
(p. 154) It’s better to have people be happy using someone else’s product than disgruntled using yours.
(p. 157) Scaring away new customers is worse than losing old customers.
(p. 157) There are always more people who are not using your product than people who are. Make sure you make it easy for these people to get on board. That’s where your continued growth potential lies.
(p. 159) ⭐ Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority. The enthusiasm you have for a new idea is not an accurate indicator of its true worth.
(p. 164) The requests that really matter are the ones you’ll hear over and over. Your customers will be your memory. They’ll show you which things you truly need to worry about. The really important stuff doesn’t go away.

Promotion

(p. 173) Instead of trying to outspend, outsell, or outsponsor competitors, try to out-teach them. Teach and you’ll form a bond you just don’t get from traditional marketing tactics.
(p. 179) Give people a backstage pass and show them how your business works. People are curious about how things are made.
(p. 180) Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They’ll develop a deeper level of understanding and appreciation for what you do.
(p. 196) Trade the dream of overnight success for slow, measured growth. You have to grind it out. You have to do it for a long time before the right people notice.

Hiring

(p. 201) Never hire anyone to do a job until you’ve tried to do it yourself first. That way, you’ll understand the nature of the work.
(p. 201) You may feel out of your element at times. You might even feel like you suck. That’s all right. You can hire your way out of that feeling or you can learn your way out of it. Try learning first. What you give up in initial execution will be repaid many times over by the wisdom you gain.
(p. 204) The right time to hire is when there’s more work than you can handle for a sustained period of time.
(p. 222) Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking.

Damage Control

(p. 231) When something goes wrong, someone is going to tell the story. You’ll be better off if it’s you. Otherwise, you create an opportunity for rumors, hearsay, and false information to spread.
(p. 235) Customers are so used to canned answers, you can really differentiate yourself by answering thoughtfully and showing that you’re listening.
(p. 238) A good apology accepts responsibility. It has no conditional if phrase attached. It provides real details about what happened and what you’re doing to prevent it from happening again.
(p. 238) An “I” apology is a lot stronger than a “we” apology.
(p. 239) Even the best apology won’t rescue you if you haven’t earned people’s trust. Everything you do before things go wrong matters far more than the actual words you use to apologize.
(p. 242) Don’t protect the people doing the work from customer feedback. No one should be shielded from direct criticism.
(p. 244) You may hear only negative voices even when the majority of your customers are happy about a change. Make sure you don’t foolishly backpedal on a necessary but controversial decision.

Culture

(p. 249) ✅ ⭐ Culture is the by-product of consistent behavior. Culture is action, not words.
(p. 235) ⭐ Instead of thinking about how you can land a roomful of rock stars, think about the room instead. The environment has a lot more to do with great work than most people realize.
(p. 255) When you treat people like children, you get children’s work.
(p. 256) Failing to trust your employees is awfully expensive.
(p. 260) Don’t create a policy because one person did something wrong once. Policies are only meant for situations that come up over and over again.
(p. 265) Four-letter words you should never use in business:
- need
- must
- can’t
- easy
- just
- only
- fast
- And their cousins:
  - everyone
  - no one
  - always
  - never
(p. 266) This quote contains 36 words, but 100 assumptions:
- “We need to add this feature now. We can’t launch without this feature. Everyone wants it. It’s only one little thing so it will be easy. You should be able to get it in there fast!”
(p. 268) When you turn into one of these people who adds ASAP to the end of every request, you’re saying everything is high priority. And when everything is high priority, nothing is.

Conclusion

(Read 117) Rework

My Review

Félix rating:👍

📚 Vocabulary

💡 New ideas

⭐ Star Quotes

Félix rating:
👍