It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-05 05:52:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jason Fried
- ISBN：0008323445
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work， Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson， founders of the trailblazing software company Basecamp， reveal a bold， iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture， directly attacking the chaos， anxiety and stress that hamper billions of workers every day。
Enduring long hours， carrying excessive workloads and functioning with a lack of sleep have become badges of honour for modern professionals。 But these realities should be marks of stupidity， the authors argue。 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'。
Enduring long hours， carrying excessive workloads and functioning with a lack of sleep have become badges of honour for modern professionals。 But these realities should be marks of stupidity， the authors argue。 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'。
Reviews
Sytske
，
This book makes me want to work for basecamp :）
Sarah
，
Ooph mixed feelings reading this book with everything that has happened recently with Basecamp。 On the one hand， there are some really great ideas in here that are really great points and speak to why some norms in place should be questioned and changed。 I made a ton of highlights on things that felt like "duh， of course this is the way it should be done"。 On the other hand， the tone is often self assured and self important。 They disregard specifics for manifestos， which makes me wonder how much Ooph mixed feelings reading this book with everything that has happened recently with Basecamp。 On the one hand， there are some really great ideas in here that are really great points and speak to why some norms in place should be questioned and changed。 I made a ton of highlights on things that felt like "duh， of course this is the way it should be done"。 On the other hand， the tone is often self assured and self important。 They disregard specifics for manifestos， which makes me wonder how much they're involved in the day to day。 It's interesting to compare and contrast this book to the announcement that was made a few months ago which walked back some things they talked about in this book and introduced new "against the cuff" policies （that didn't go over as well this time）。 It's like looking at two sides of the same coin。 。。。more
Huw Evans
，
Hard to rate， because in some ways it’s just a v2 of Rework。 It’s more polished， more organised， very much focused around this idea of a ‘calm company’。 I liked it and it was inspirational， and a better book than Rework。 But if you’ve read Rework， it’s just the same stuff。
Kuba Janiec
，
Przykłady warunków pracy w Basecamp i próba przekonania czytelnika ze to odpowiednia droga do zadowolenia pracownika i pracodawcy。 Utopijna wizja multimiliardowego biznesu technologicznego z 34 pracownikami nijak ma się do realiów polskich czy korporacyjnych。 Przykłady anegdotyczne próbujące wywindować Basecamp jako pracodawcę idealnego， szkoda tylko ze ostatnie doniesienia mówią o odejściu blisko 33% pracowników w oparciu o zarzuty dyskryminacyjne。 Ta książka to czysty PR i hiperbola idylliczne Przykłady warunków pracy w Basecamp i próba przekonania czytelnika ze to odpowiednia droga do zadowolenia pracownika i pracodawcy。 Utopijna wizja multimiliardowego biznesu technologicznego z 34 pracownikami nijak ma się do realiów polskich czy korporacyjnych。 Przykłady anegdotyczne próbujące wywindować Basecamp jako pracodawcę idealnego， szkoda tylko ze ostatnie doniesienia mówią o odejściu blisko 33% pracowników w oparciu o zarzuty dyskryminacyjne。 Ta książka to czysty PR i hiperbola idyllicznej wizji pracy w wysoko rozwiniętych krajach i bogatych przedsiębiorstwach z poskromionymi ambicjami włodarzy o ekspansji i skalowaniu przedsiębiorstwa。 Przytaczane przykłady o tym ze Haruki Murakami chodzi spać o 21， a Gustav Mahler miał czas na piesze wędrówki każdego dnia przez wiele godzin po pracy są śmieszne i wcale nie udowadniają ze można pracować mniej gdy robimy to mądrze。 Nie polecam。 。。。more
Ji Cheng
，
This is book of wisdom。 It’s summary of valuable experience from the author。 There are so many great ideas: don’t aim for the Low hanging fruit; it’s not true that your company not growing means dying。
Steven
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Against the grainThe style of writing is witty， fun， and simple。 This was a fast read that gave me some good ideas to take to my company。
Dmytro Dotsenko
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An unorthodox view on how to run the company and succeed I really liked the book， it seems that they do all the opposite of what most of the companies are doing and， surprisingly， it seems to work
Yasmin
，
Update this to have a comedy tag cuz the irony of reading this after the 2021 basecamp drama lmaoo
Isabelle Sharman
，
This is a quick， solid read。 It’s painfully relatable for anyone engrossed in corporate work culture and I wish I could distribute copies all over my company。Reasons I only gave it three stars: as I expected， it reads like a non-stop advertisement for Basecamp。 They deserve a pat on the back for having amazing work practices， but after a point I didn’t really want to keep hearing about how awesome their company is。 Additionally， I wish there had been a chapter or two with suggestions for how to This is a quick， solid read。 It’s painfully relatable for anyone engrossed in corporate work culture and I wish I could distribute copies all over my company。Reasons I only gave it three stars: as I expected， it reads like a non-stop advertisement for Basecamp。 They deserve a pat on the back for having amazing work practices， but after a point I didn’t really want to keep hearing about how awesome their company is。 Additionally， I wish there had been a chapter or two with suggestions for how to raise these issues at one’s company or on one’s team。 It would be nice to feel empowered to make practical suggestions！ 。。。more
Michal Kardyś
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Short and to the point
Abdullah
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كتاب جميل يشرح المؤلفين فيه أفكارهم في كيفية إدارة شركتهم。أفكار جداً رائعة، غير تقليدية، خاصة أنهم يديرون شركة برمجيات。
Ben Solomon
，
Like their other book 'Remote' this is a great paradigm shifting book that leaders， executives， managers and entrepreneurs need to read。 Like their other book 'Remote' this is a great paradigm shifting book that leaders， executives， managers and entrepreneurs need to read。 。。。more
Ethan P
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Easy quick casual read。 Opinionated。 I agree with the theme but didn't agree with a lot of the specific practices。 I like their vibe though。 A little bit over-combative perhaps but it causes you to be like， wait if I want it to not have to be crazy at work maybe I have to take stock and take charge of my situation， since that's not always the default。 Easy quick casual read。 Opinionated。 I agree with the theme but didn't agree with a lot of the specific practices。 I like their vibe though。 A little bit over-combative perhaps but it causes you to be like， wait if I want it to not have to be crazy at work maybe I have to take stock and take charge of my situation， since that's not always the default。 。。。more
Hots Hartley
，
Very Basecamp-centric， but still insightful and applicable。The chapters are short， punchy， and to the point。 Not all of this has been said before， particularly by a successful company that isn't a scale-up startup。The authors make some fresh analogies and extended metaphors。For example， some of my favorite chapters included:Launch and learn - "Real answers are only uncovered when someone's motivated enough to buy your product and use it in their own natural environment--and of their own volition Very Basecamp-centric， but still insightful and applicable。The chapters are short， punchy， and to the point。 Not all of this has been said before， particularly by a successful company that isn't a scale-up startup。The authors make some fresh analogies and extended metaphors。For example， some of my favorite chapters included:Launch and learn - "Real answers are only uncovered when someone's motivated enough to buy your product and use it in their own natural environment--and of their own volition。 Anything else is a simulation， and simulated situations give you simulated answers。 Shipping real products gives you real answers。"Change control - "Sell new customers on the new thing and let old customers keep whatever they already have。"Copycats - "When someone copies you， they are copying a moment in time。 They don't know the thinking that went into getting you to that moment in time， and they won't know the thinking that'll help you have a million more moments in time。 They're stuck with what you left behind。"Three's company [On teams of three people: two programmers and a designer] - "Three is a wedge， and that's why it works。 Three has a sharp point。 It's an odd number， so there are no ties。 It's powerful enough to make a dent， but also weak enough to not break what isn't broken。"Compromise on quality - "Rather than put endless effort into every detail， we put lots of effort into separating what really matters from what sort of matters from what doesn't matter at all。 The act of separation should be your highest-quality endeavor。"The wrong time for real time - "Specific designs encourage specific behaviors。 If the design leads to stress， it's a bad design。""When it comes to chat， we have two primary rules of thumb: "Real-time sometimes， asynchronous most of the time" and "If it's important， slow down。"The central theme is keeping a calm， collected work environment， both at the office and remotely。 It's about managing deadlines， team communication， stress， competition， and priorities。 It reads quickly， as the chapters are short and punchy， allowing you to finish the book in less than a week in bursts of bite-sized chunks。 I highly recommend to anyone in management， side projects， team leadership， or small businesses。 。。。more
Neil Pasricha
，
Do you remember that old Woody Allen joke from Annie Hall？ “Those who can’t do， teach， and those who can’t teach， teach gym。” Now， my dad and my wife are teachers， so I don’t agree with that， but I like that he was trying to shine a little light on the gap between “doer” and “sayer。” Because most sayers are not doers… and most doers are not sayers。 Jason Fried is both。 He’s CEO of Basecamp， an active and popular business with twenty straight years of profits， and he’s a captivatingly counterintu Do you remember that old Woody Allen joke from Annie Hall？ “Those who can’t do， teach， and those who can’t teach， teach gym。” Now， my dad and my wife are teachers， so I don’t agree with that， but I like that he was trying to shine a little light on the gap between “doer” and “sayer。” Because most sayers are not doers… and most doers are not sayers。 Jason Fried is both。 He’s CEO of Basecamp， an active and popular business with twenty straight years of profits， and he’s a captivatingly counterintuitive thinker and writer。 I loved his book REWORK。 And this book follows in those footsteps – lambasting the “warrior mentality” of 100-hour-work-weeks of the world in favor of a refreshingly fulsome view of the whole person。 。。。more
Rafael Manzoni
，
A quick reading， but this book is manifesto trying to challenge the status quo of the companies today。I liked as self reflection of my day to day work。 But the contains some unrealistic situations。
Khattiya Homthong
，
เลือกงานที่ทำให้ชีวิตเราสุขสงบ เลือกบริหารธุรกิจด้วยแนวทางง่ายๆ ไม่ซับซ้อน ทำกำไร และไม่ต้องพึ่งพาใคร （ ลูกน้อง ， นายทุน ， ลูกค้า ） ดีอะไรแบบนี้ จงเลือกปกป้องเวลาของคุณเองเดี๋ยวนี้
Willie
，
Thought provoking and actionable ideas。 But some ideas felt privileged because of their current stage of business
Mattias Altin
，
Great book， alas hard to buy into fully due to the recent events at the company…
Santiago Zubieta
，
Read this one some time ago and I thought it described what one would call a wonderful， healthy， and balanced workplace， or the thing that workplaces should aspire to be like。 Several times I felt some chapters completely related to issues on my workplace and wished that our reality was more like than the book than what it was actually like。Also， it seemed that from the outside， Basecamp， the company the writers founded， ran like this， they had great products， people who stayed for very long （ve Read this one some time ago and I thought it described what one would call a wonderful， healthy， and balanced workplace， or the thing that workplaces should aspire to be like。 Several times I felt some chapters completely related to issues on my workplace and wished that our reality was more like than the book than what it was actually like。Also， it seemed that from the outside， Basecamp， the company the writers founded， ran like this， they had great products， people who stayed for very long （very rare in tech industry）， and founders who prided themselves on doing it right， decrying the toxic and unbalanced work environments that are prevalent in the tech industry at large。 After all， if they were constantly writing books about cool and healthy workplaces and positing themselves as thought leaders of healthy and balanced workplaces with their books and online presences， it must've meant that at the very least they ran their own workplace like this， basically an assumption that they were telling other people and other companies that "it doesn't have to be crazy at work" because they themselves managed to make their own company not crazy。 If it was possible for them， it definitely must be possible elsewhere， and they were going to tell you how to do it， after a read one ends up thinking "Oh wow Basecamp looks like an amazing place， people must be lucky to work in such a place"。But you know， considering what just happened at Basecamp where nearly a third of the staff quit as part of an still ongoing scandal， it's baffling that the people who wrote this book were the same ones responsible for their undoing。 I personally don't believe this kind of meltdown happens just like that overnight， or is wholly attributable to a single "incident"， it's something that builds up over time， when problems instead of being discussed are just ignored， until people can't take something anymore and the pressure cooker blows up。 A decades-old "calm" company （adjective they've used to describe themselves） doesn't get a nuclear melt down like this from a single thing happening。 The single "incident" is just a catalyst that starts unearthing more past issues and problems that seem to go deep in the company culture， it's like the "crazy at work" was already there for a long time， but was just swept under the rug and beautiful words on books and Twitter。It just doesn't become "crazy at work" overnight， specially at a 20+ years old company， and one where so much people， many of them with several years long tenures and critical positions start leaving。 So， it's sad that the writers of this nice inspiring book were the ones whose "leadership" led their own work environment to become so toxic and exclusionary that it culminated on the worst possible way imaginable， their public image and trust becoming so shattered， and many outsiders （like myself） who admired them from afar now being disillusioned。Can a workplace like what's described on this book really exist？ I hope so。 But my hope is now less than before， because the strength of the book's premise and narrative lied on the success they claimed to have on this regard， but in reality it seems they didn't even truly accomplish what they preached， hence my rating and review reflects that despite initially the liking contents of the book， it doesn't have any legs to stand on after what has happened， as a result of this I've lost all credibility I had in the authors。 。。。more
DIRK VERCRUYSSE
，
Enjoyed these bits and bytes during breaksSome good food for thought。 Advice not directly applicable in very operational work environments。 But hey， start at your local level ;-）
Veronika Olikova
，
First of all， I have to say that I haven’t finished the book。 I read 3/4 of it and had to stop - it was just too LinkedIn-y for me。 Yes， ideas are great but the style it was written in is just really annoying （at least for me）。 It felt like i am reading just another LinkedIn post from CEO of some “hype company”， almost bragging how great & revolutionary they are and how they love their employees etc。。。If you like that kind of stuff， you will love this book though :）
AnhDuc
，
Nice read。 I love how this company has the opposite attitude towards a lot of problems than normal companies and appreciate the well-being of its employees。
Tomás Atilano
，
Un muy buen libro para cualquier persona que quiera cambiar su forma de sentirse con el trabajo。 Claro está enfocado en gerentes o dueños de negocio， pero sin importar tu posición puedes crearlas rutinas y consejos acá expuestos。 Vivir estresado， perder el tiempo en reuniones， la inmediatez de los chats en grupo， los deadlines inalcanzables， básicamente la NO existencia de balance entre vida y trabajo no tiene que ser algo normal como ha sido y es desde bastante tiempo atrás。 Acá encontrarás eso Un muy buen libro para cualquier persona que quiera cambiar su forma de sentirse con el trabajo。 Claro está enfocado en gerentes o dueños de negocio， pero sin importar tu posición puedes crearlas rutinas y consejos acá expuestos。 Vivir estresado， perder el tiempo en reuniones， la inmediatez de los chats en grupo， los deadlines inalcanzables， básicamente la NO existencia de balance entre vida y trabajo no tiene que ser algo normal como ha sido y es desde bastante tiempo atrás。 Acá encontrarás esos consejos para generar esas estructuras de "calma" que le permitan a tus trabajadores estar felices y ser productivos a la vez。 Como todo cada ejemplo debe ser tomado con pinza y aplicado en la situación actual， pero de verdad que esa cultura de calma y balance es algo por lo que todos deberíamos apostar。 。。。more
Nate
，
I mean， it was OK。 Lots of nice thoughts。 Would love to move in this direction。 Very little evidence that this helpful for any org other than Basecamp。 No assistance in implementation。
Silvio Carrera
，
Some interesting points but overall it's superficial。 Also a lot of remarks about Basecamp make it feel like propaganda。 Some interesting points but overall it's superficial。 Also a lot of remarks about Basecamp make it feel like propaganda。 。。。more
Amy
，
Just removed my rating and I'm rethinking my response to this book after the April 2021 announcement from Jason and David。 I loved this book because I thought it advocated for more inclusive， humane workplaces — but maybe I wasn't reading it closely enough。 Just removed my rating and I'm rethinking my response to this book after the April 2021 announcement from Jason and David。 I loved this book because I thought it advocated for more inclusive， humane workplaces — but maybe I wasn't reading it closely enough。 。。。more
Szatmári Tamás
，
I like to main values behind the book。 The problem though is that it's a collection of blog articles， not really a coherent structure。 It slows down at the end， but I had a few good practical ideas。 I like to main values behind the book。 The problem though is that it's a collection of blog articles， not really a coherent structure。 It slows down at the end， but I had a few good practical ideas。 。。。more
Gabriel Solomon
，
Interesting book with a few crazy ideeasGreat principles， but some a few radical views。Nonetheless， even if not applied in full， they can be something good to consider。
Rachel Critelli
，