Rework Reflections: Intro

Rework is a brand new book by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of a small and innovative business 37signals. Their previous book “Getting Real” has been a hit, and now Rework is getting lots of attention. So, what makes this books so special that people are almost religiously excited about it? And what makes Seth Godin advertise it on the front cover with words: “Ignore this book at your own peril”?

I’m about to find out. I’ve now spent a few moments browsing around the book, but really didn’t start reading it yet (even if it’s a very quick read BTW). I won’t be doing a book review here. Instead, here’s the deal:

I will read the book chapter by chapter, and digest the wisdoms here on the Fruugo blog. I will reflect the ideas against my own thinking, and against Fruugo’s past experiences, present situation, and future plans. Let’s see what comes out of this.

I’m pretty excited about the idea. Fruugo is a fairly new company in a sense that our service hasn’t been open to consumers for very long. But our history goes back a few years (the company was founded 2006), and we certainly have lived through some interesting moments. We’ve had our ups and downs, made some mistakes, but also achieved great things. We are really excited to see what the future will bring us, and what we can make out of it. I’m sure to find many thoughts on the pages of Rework that are relevant for Fruugo. And then some that perhaps don’t apply well at all. I don’t know, but I’m curious to find out.

So, a series of blog postings will follow. Feel free to join the journey, and give your comments. Each posting will cover one or more chapters of the book – what ever turns out to make sense. I don’t know yet, and I don’t want to plan too much. I think that’s also one of the messages of the book. Just get going.

So here goes!

The new reality

First paragraphs: descriptions of the target audiences for the book. Yes, I can identify myself from the list. Checked – can continue reading…

The end of the chapter talks about the new reality: how tools, technologies and other enablers make it possible for anyone to start a business, without any investments, office, employees…  And how working 10-40 hours per week should do it for you. Obviously, these statements are meant to be provocative: no matter what business you are in, you are probably doing some stupid things at the moment! I buy this wake-up call – any business can make things more simple. And starting a new business can be a very straightforward operation these days.

But at the same time the first chapter provides some very important scoping for the whole book. 37signals is a small software company – focused mainly on creating customer value through innovative software solutions. They are not running a cafe, driving trucks, or providing labor intensive call center services. Yet, your great start-up idea may be focused to do one of those things. I anticipate that Rework’s thoughts will be built on paradigms of a small software company, and while lots of them will be valuable to anybody, some businesses may just require solutions that are not as black-and-white simple. Even if it would be nice, if everybody could get by with a 10-hour working week.

But enough of speculations, better get on with the reading. Those were my reflections on the first chapter of Rework. Stay tuned for more.

Happy shopping,

Juha Usva, CEO

Nice colour match - don't you think? Both highly addictive.