Book Review: Rework
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I’ve mentioned more than once on this blog that sometimes 5 minutes after I’ve come across something I’ve never heard of before, I come across exactly the same thing on someone else’s blog.
This is called synchronicity. Which, according to Wikipedia is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.
One such example is that a couple of months ago I was reading Maren Kate’s blog Escaping the 9 to 5 about the products she recommends. Maren was talking about 37 Signal’s product Basecamp. Now, I think I must be in the minority, but I’d never heard of 37 Signals. Or Basecamp. But a few clicks later and I discover that Basecamp is a project management and task management software for collaboration with your teams or your clients. It has over 3,000,000 users worldwide, yet, 37Signals employs less than 20 people worldwide and makes millions of $$$ annually.
So when I heard of ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever by the co-founders of 37 Signals I bought it. And was very impressed!
So today when I finally got round to writing this post on Re-work, I read an interview with Jason Fried co founder of, you guessed it 37 Signals, in Inc Magazine. Not 10 minutes later I was on Tim Ferriss’ blog where in the latest edition of Random with Kevin Rose. Kevin Rose gives his book recommendation of Rework! So, with such synchronicity at play this post just has to be written!
So, given that 37 Signals is a highly profitable company operating globally and employing only 20 people (who, incidentally don’t work in the same office) they authors clearly have a lot to share.
In fact, Tim Ferriss describes this book as the Elements of Style for building profitable businesses in a web-savvy world.
Each chapter is 2-5 pages long and delivers their tactics and principles simply and ‘fat-free’, without fluff. Just like 37Signals’ business models they give tremendous insight, but more importantly they work.
Here’s some of the insights:
Drug Dealers Get it Right
Drug dealers are astute business people. They know their product is so good that they’re willing to give a little away for free upfront. They know you’ll be back for more with money.
Emulate drug dealers. Make your products so good, so addictive, so “can’t miss” that giving customers a small free taste makes them come back with cash in hand.
They will force you to make something about your product bite-size. You want an easily digestible introduction to what you sell. This gives people a way to try it without investing any money or a lot of time.
Bakeries, restaurants and ice cream shops have done this successfully for years. Car dealers let you test – drive cars before buying them. Software firms are also getting on board, with free trials or limited use versions. How many other industries could benefit from the drug dealer model?
Launch Now
When is your product or service finished? When should you put it on the market? When is it safe to let people have it? Probably a lot sooner than you’re comfortable with. Once your product does what it needs to do, get it out there.
Just because you’ve still got a list of things to do doesn’t mean it’s not done. Don’t hold everything up to a few leftovers. You can do them later.
You can read an excerpt from Rework Here
Quite simply this is an excellent book which can be read in a couple of evenings. Go check it out. ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever
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What you call synchronicity sounds like what I call God-incidences. I personally love them
I hope the book is as compelling as you make it sound. I’m sure it is
Having remembered that Jason Fried is the guy who wrote that article you sent me, I had to get it. So it’s done 
Oooh, but I also hope you added an Amazon affiliate thingy because you deserve every penny. I would never have heard of this book, let alone bought it, if it hadn’t been for you.
Great review, thanks Matthew.
P.S. How are you all doing? Has he got past that newborn ‘sleep all the time’ phase yet? If not, give it a few days
And give Mrs BRT a big hug. I still remember 3 days post Emily. Lots of tears 
Eleanor Edwards´s last [type] ..Perspective It all depends on where you’re standing
Eleanor Edwards Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 11:36 am
P.P.S You’ve just made my brain spend the past 15 minutes pondering about what my version of the drug dealers could look like. Haven’t come up with an answer yet (either for my place or GAB) but it’s got the grey cells moving
Eleanor Edwards´s last [type] ..Perspective It all depends on where you’re standing
Matthew Needham Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Yes, interesting question to pose. Any ideas?
Just given me a great idea for a follow up post!
Matthew Needham Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Glad you’ve found it of use Eleanor and inspired you to buy. I Hope it really helps you build your business as well as GAB.
Little BRT does sleep all the time. In fact he’s asleep on my knee as I type this one handed! He also seems to sleep most of the night only waking around 3 and again around 6.30. Long may it continue! Mrs BRT is happier now everything seems to be dropping into a routine! Thanks for asking.
Good advice Matthew. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I tend to delay launches until I feel my products are in excellent shape.
John Soares´s last [type] ..Planning For Future Products — Set Up The Website Now
Matthew Needham Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist, but you can develop stuff more than it needs to, which potentially costs you money.
Hi Matthew,
Funny that you should mention this book because someone emailed me this morning and mentioned it. I had heard of it before but didn’t pay much attention. Now, it’s becoming more prevalent so maybe I should pay more attention to its insights.
I’ll probably be picking it up, if my book store has a copy. My pile of unread books keeps growing….
Thanks,
Karen
Karen´s last [type] ..Warning- These Emotions May Be Affecting You More Than You Think
Matthew Needham Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Hi Karen, a further example of synchrocity!
I have the same problem, unread books keep on growing, but this is quick to read as each tip is a couple of pages long.
I haven’t run into this problem very often myself. I just got an idea for a new product that I’m asking my readers about here soon and if all goes well I will start on it. I already have things written down on paper so it’s just a matter of starting on it if they want it.
If so, I know how I’m going to do it and know about the time frame it will take for completion. This allows me to get it out there very fast and make something very useful out of it.
I think when we’re nervous the most about putting our products out there is when we should. Why? Because that shows we care a lot about the work we put into them.
What do you think?
Eric´s last [type] ..Blogging Better- The Two Simple Ways To Do So
Ha. Everyone loves drug dealers (kidding, of course)…
This looks to be a great book! I had not heard of 37 signals or Basecamp before either.
I can tell you, as someone who has been involved in many projects that rework is expensive. Unfortunately, it is seen by some as just part of the process of creation/implementation.
I am going to have to check this out. Thanks for the recommendation!
Have a great day Matthew!
mark´s last [type] ..The Latest Thing To Solve All of Your Problems
Matthew Needham Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Thanks Mark. You can learn lessons from every business, which I think is a good lesson for us all.
Rework is very expensive, you’re right. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Agile Project Management, but I think that’s a good balance between rework and pace of delivery.
Hope you have a good day too!
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