Jason Fried just spoke at SXSWi about his new book, REWORK. He reminds me of the simple reason I enjoy running The Hive entrepreneurial networking group - it is really refreshing to see people talk passionately and authentically about how they do things.
Watch this video:
Jason Fried is somebody I have been following since the days he ran a group that did usability consulting and workshops. Since then they have transformed into a company that has released four major applications and three books while maintaining a popular blog and releasing the popular web framework Ruby on Rails.
The evolution in the way Jason runs 37signals has been really fascinating to watch as it becomes more and more complex, while appearing simpler. Jason questions the way traditional businesses are run and the ideas that people have about business in ‘the real world’ before actually trying new adaptations to see if he can find a better way of doing things. Over time this has compounded and the progression really shows in the books they have published:
- Defensive Design for the web – shows their thought process around web user interfaces and how they consider the various elements on a page in relation to the user.
- Getting Real – a collection of really opinionated ideas on how they run the company very differently to most software groups.
- Rework – shows the distilled version of the most foundational elements of Getting Real.
Some of my favourite concepts are: Meetings are toxic, Start at the epicentre, Focus on what won’t change, Make tiny decisions and Drug dealers get it right.
Once you have seen the video, do yourself a favour and go buy a copy of Rework.
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