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Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

managementtoday.co.uk

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Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#11

Post by jasonfried »

pvg wrote: post #10
tomh- wrote: post #2

It's important to realize that this "Rework" book is about the stuff that worked for 37signals and might work for you if you have a similar business. The review points out that this is not always the case from a management perspective and it's not always applicable to other business'.

From the inside flap - "REWORK shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition." Note that the claim is not 'Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in a business that is similar to 37 signals. Maybe'.

It depends. Maybe. Sometimes. Your milage may vary. Reasonable people understand these apply in most (but not all!) situations.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#12

Post by staunch »

absconditus wrote: post #6

"I am not sure these guys are real businesspeople." What exactly are "real businesspeople"?

He pretty much says what he means: "I am not sure these guys are real businesspeople. They need to stop behaving like children." -- he means "old businesspeople". Ya'know "professional" people. People who fit in the clip-art image of a businessperson.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#13

Post by mattmcknight »

axod wrote: post #9
rimantas wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling that author did not even read the book properly: maybe a couple of opening pages and chapter titles.

I read the back cover. That was enough to know it's more of the same. Not for me. "Fire workaholics", "Meetings are toxic", etc etc it's just linkbait hyperbole. I think this review managed to accurately sum up what 37signals puts out.

"Meetings are toxic" was in their last book. It's a hyperbolic title, but the content is more subtle. http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch07_Meetings_Are_Toxic.php

"Fire workaholics" was a blog post. http://37signals.com/svn/posts/902-fire-the-workaholics

The review was defensive, because 37signals prove that many typical management techniques are not necessary for success. This is a status risk for the review author, who derives his livelihood from telling people about another right way to do things, and told me more about him than about the book.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#15

Post by tome »

The author suggests that 37signals shouldn't "try and make a name for [their] software company by issuing such over-heated generalisations".

Is this book is about making a name for 37signals? Is the Rework Readers -> Basecamp Buyers conversion rate expected to be high?

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#16

Post by mattmcknight »

conorgil145 wrote: post #4

from article "I have the pleasure of working with real businesspeople who care about doing a good job, not talking about doing a good job." Well, I don't know if he did research about the software that 37Signals has made, but I consider Ruby on Rails a "good job". I haven't used any of their other products (Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire), but I would bet that the 3 million people using them would consider th…

Yes, by the review author's logic, no one should ever write a business book, because they are too busy doing a good job.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#18

Post by grandalf »

Management is an interesting concept. My personal view on it is that I don't want to work with people who need to be managed.

So don't call it management, call it leadership instead. If you're on a team of peers and you're the natural leader who helps motivate everyone and makes the idea a reality, you are essentially the manager... the PHB, but you are doing it artfully.

In lots of businesses, one is not fortunate enough to be able to hire self-motivated employees, and so management is akin to being the old lady on the school yard with a whistle.

But more broadly, management is the science of motivating people... and anyone who is a "founder" and can't do the project alone must fill those shoes to some extent.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is that there is no such thing as management, only mismanagement.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#19

Post by pvg »

jasonfried wrote: post #11
pvg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the inside flap - "REWORK shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition." Note that the claim is not 'Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in a business that is similar to 37 signals. Maybe'.

It depends. Maybe. Sometimes. Your milage may vary. Reasonable people understand these apply in most (but not all!) situations.

No doubt. But what the what the OP is trying to do is weasel away from a critique of the book by saying 'Well, it's really mostly about 37 signals. If you don't like it/doesn't work for you, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man'. I imagine you wrote the book with the notion that it is broadly (not universally) applicable, just like most books in the genre. And it's perfectly sensible to review it in those terms, just like this and all other reviews I've seen so far have.

Re: Management today review of 37signal's "Rework"

#20

Post by gte910h »

I'm currently reading the book, and he amusingly left out the stats supporting their conclusions or the rest of the sentence which tempers the strong advice. This is obviously intentional.

They say "Don't make plans" and end the sentence with "Before you start, you don't know anything then".

They say "learn from successes, not failures" and back it up with stats about how people who failed at a prior business endeavor are no more likely than first time starters (23% of succeeding), but people who've succeeded at prior business have a much greater chance (forgot that number).

Uneven smear job a stuckup business writer.

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