It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work

by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

Overview

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today.

In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day.

Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.

It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.

Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062874788
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	210,314
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

JASON FRIED is the cofounder and CEO of Basecamp. He started the company back in 1999 and has been running the show ever since. Along with David, he wrote Getting Real, REWORK, and REMOTE. When it comes to business, he thinks things are simple until you make them complicated. And when it comes to life, we’re all just trying to figure it out as we go.

DAVID HEINEMEIER HANSSON is the cofounder of Basecamp and the New York Times bestselling coauthor of REWORK and REMOTE. He’s also the creator of the software toolkit Ruby on Rails, which has been used to launch and power Twitter, Shopify, GitHub, Airbnb, Square, and over a million other web applications. Originally from Denmark, he moved to Chicago in 2005 and now divides his time between the US and Spain with his wife and two sons. In his spare time, he enjoys 200-mph race cars in international competition, taking cliché pictures of sunsets and kids, and ranting far too much on Twitter.

Table of Contents

First

It's crazy at work 3

A quick bit about us 8

Your company is a product 9

Curb Your Ambition

Bury the hustle 17

Happy pacifists 20

Our goal: No goals 23

Don't change the world 30

Make it up as you go 32

Comfy's cool 34

Defend Your Time

8's enough, 40's plenty 41

Protectionism 43

The quality of an hour 46

Effective > Productive 50

The outwork myth 52

Work doesn't happen at work 54

Office hours 56

Calendar Tetris 62

The presence prison 65

I'll get back to you whenever 67

Fomo? Jomo! 70

Feed Your Culture

We're not family 77

They'll do as you do 79

The trust battery 81

Don't be the last to know 84

The owner's word weighs a ton 88

Low-hanging fruit can still be out of reach 90

Don't cheat sleep 93

Out of whack 96

Hire the work, not the résumé 100

Nobody hits the ground running 104

Ignore the talent war 106

Don't negotiate salaries 108

Benefits who? 116

Library rules 119

No fakecations 122

Calm goodbyes 125

Dissect Your Process

The wrong time for real-time 133

Dreadlines 136

Don't be a knee-jerk 139

Watch out for 12-day weeks 141

The new normal 146

Bad habits beat good intentions 148

Independencies 150

Commitment, not consensus 152

Compromise on quality 155

Narrow as you go 157

Why not nothing? 159

It's enough 161

Worst practices 164

Whatever it doesn't take 170

Have less to do 172

Three's company 174

Stick with it 176

Know no 178

Mind Your Business

Risk without putting yourself at risk 185

Season's greetings 187

Calm's in the black 189

Priced to lose 194

Launch and learn 197

Promise not to promise 200

Copycats 204

Change control 207

Startups are easy, stayups are hard 210

No big deal or the end of the world? 214

The good old days 216

Last

Choose calm 223

Bibliography 228

Resources 231

Editorial Reviews

Their book is funny, well-written and iconoclastic and by far the best thing on management published this year.”   — The Economist

“Each [chapter is] packed with a punch that seems both profound and practical—profound for how clear and different they tend to be from most accepted business wisdom, and practical because almost everything they describe is immediately applicable.” — 800-CEO-READ

“In short, jargon-free chapters, the authors challenge the way many of today’s businesses are run.” — Financial Times

“An urgent conversation to have.” — Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

Their book is funny, well-written and iconoclastic and by far the best thing on management published this year.”  

The Economist

In short, jargon-free chapters, the authors challenge the way many of today’s businesses are run.

Financial Times

An urgent conversation to have.

Wall Street Journal

Each [chapter is] packed with a punch that seems both profound and practical—profound for how clear and different they tend to be from most accepted business wisdom, and practical because almost everything they describe is immediately applicable.

800-CEO-READ

In short, jargon-free chapters, the authors challenge the way many of today’s businesses are run.

Financial Times

An urgent conversation to have.

Wall Street Journal