Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier

I have been hearing about the book Rework in my web circle for a while.  I think John Saddington at Human3rror and ChurchCrunch were first, but also Carlos at RagamuffinSoul and most recently Michael Hyatt.  It was Michael Hyatt’s give away of 50 copies that finally convincenced me to pick a copy up.  I usually do not enter book give aways any more.  I figure I should let others get the books.  

Rework is a business book by the founders of 37signals.  It is an innovative tech company out of Chicago.  They are the creators of Basecamp and a bunch of other software.

Reworks is almost devotional in feel.  The chapters are thematic, with very short (1-2 page) sections that develop on the theme.  The bias of the authors seems to be that while you need to find your way yourself, they can give you some sign posts along the way.  This is not a “5 steps to a better…” book.

Rework is about focus, doing less, but doing it better, getting the product out even if it is not perfect.  They skewer the idea that you learn from mistakes, instead they say, learn from success and follow success.

This is a short book, about 27,000 words.  The authors want to pack a punch, so the book was cut in half from the first complete draft to the final copy.  Much of the paper version is taken up with black and white drawing.  This is not a negative, the drawings really illustrate their points.  Unlike so many business books, and other non-fiction books, the extra has been cut out.  This is not a long article that was expanded to book length.  This was a book length set of ideas that was cut to a little more than novella length.

I am not a business guy.  I am a nanny.  But I do work as a part time consultant for some non-profits.  Many of these same ideas carry over, it is about accomplishing something.  I have bought one copy so far to give away.  I likely will be buying a couple more.  The price is not cheap, full price is $22.  It is only $12 at Amazon.  It is well worth $12.