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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Solid 4 stars. I really enjoyed all the concepts and completely agree, but it was a bit too pithy and Food Rules for me to give it 5. I’m also intensely curious how Basecamp employees feel. CEOs always think they’re doing better than they are.
While this book has a few gems, the central neoliberal contention that the rigors capitalism takes on the planet, the human body, and the collective psyche are merely due to the shortsightedness of employers is at best naive and at worst exceedingly dangerous.
The attitude evidenced in this book is glib and self-righteous, while their conclusions under-researched and thinly supported, offering only brief internal anecdotes. I honestly can't imagine anyone but their greedy publisher thought it fit to have them sit down and turn their uneducated opinion into prescription to fill the business erotica section of your major airport bookstores.
Every chapter is marked with brief anecdotes about how people like Charles Dickens, Maya Angelou, or Gustav Mahler structured their days. To my mind, none of these people took on venture capital or had much in the way of employees, so WTF does their "calm approach" to working have to do with the realities of the modern tech industry?
I know they are smug and self-satisfied that they've been able to build a successful company without VC money or a single office or employee in the Bay Area -- and to be honest I accept this as a feat as well -- but they still managed to fall into the typical Silicon Valley mindset that believes that the learnings and subsequent leadership style of their fluke can (and should!) be evenly applied across all other companies.
Y'all got lucky. Congrats. Now shut up.
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Update May 2021 - yup they should've shut up.
The attitude evidenced in this book is glib and self-righteous, while their conclusions under-researched and thinly supported, offering only brief internal anecdotes. I honestly can't imagine anyone but their greedy publisher thought it fit to have them sit down and turn their uneducated opinion into prescription to fill the business erotica section of your major airport bookstores.
Every chapter is marked with brief anecdotes about how people like Charles Dickens, Maya Angelou, or Gustav Mahler structured their days. To my mind, none of these people took on venture capital or had much in the way of employees, so WTF does their "calm approach" to working have to do with the realities of the modern tech industry?
I know they are smug and self-satisfied that they've been able to build a successful company without VC money or a single office or employee in the Bay Area -- and to be honest I accept this as a feat as well -- but they still managed to fall into the typical Silicon Valley mindset that believes that the learnings and subsequent leadership style of their fluke can (and should!) be evenly applied across all other companies.
Y'all got lucky. Congrats. Now shut up.
---
Update May 2021 - yup they should've shut up.
This is a great leadership/management book. It really runs against a lot of common "things to do" regarding leadership. We often get too caught up in what the norms are to manage people and don't stop to think if there might be a better way or even more importantly is it worth the cost to our humanity. To often we are driven my production/profit at all costs and completely throw aside that we are all humans and this is not our best foot forward. This book challenges that thinking and instead tries to integrate the idea that people can have satisfaction and delight and *gasp* still get shit done! As a recovering workaholic this challenged me greatly and I was convicted of integrating damaging leadership principles I had learned into my own leadership. Things that were well meaning on my part but probably did not do well for those that worked for me. Yeah maybe we were able to get the job done as long as "the job" did not include taking care of my team. However, as a leader, that is the primary job of the leader. There is a phrase about leaders that don't get this: horrible leaders
If you are a leader in any capacity and care at all about your team, I highly recommend this book. But be ready to have conventional thinking challenged and be open to looking at what bullshit you were taught or picked up. You won't get much out of this if you only care about the bottom line or don't have an open mind.
If you are a leader in any capacity and care at all about your team, I highly recommend this book. But be ready to have conventional thinking challenged and be open to looking at what bullshit you were taught or picked up. You won't get much out of this if you only care about the bottom line or don't have an open mind.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I don’t 100% agree with the book but I think that’s ok. There’s a lot of unconventional practices discussed. Some I think are worth experimenting with. It’s hard to unhustle in the world of tech. But disconnecting from work is so important. A lot of their practices can be summed up with “less is more” in various dimensions. I think it would be hard to do in a large company but doable for a small business/start-up. We all want to do our best work. Definitely worth the quick read/listen especially if you’re a manager who wants to help the team.
Este libro tiene muchas experiencias y consejos anecdóticos acerca de cómo lograr llevar una vida de trabajo calmada, en la que no sientas que tienes que estar estresado y tebajando 100% de tu tiempo despierto y hasta dormir poco.
Hay consejos que considero muy valiosos y creo que pueden aplicar a muchos casos, pero otros aunque parecen buenos creo que son aplicables a pocos casos y dados desde una perspectiva de la gran suerte con la que corrieron.
Esa creo que es la falla principal del libro, no todos puede darse los lujos que ellos se dan: correr clientes, hacerlos esperar hasta el otro día, no constestar mails/llamadas/mensajes después de cierta hora. Cierto, todos deberíamos buscar ir hacia allá, hacia ese entorno de trabajo ideal en el que te puedes olvidar del trabajo desde cierta hora, pero no todos lo entornos están preparados para eso, sobre todo para empresas que están batallando con la rentabiliad.
Otra error del libro es que se nota que los capítulos fueron escritos por separado y luego unidos para formar el libro, repiten muchas cosas explicándolas como si fuera la primera vez que se exponen.
Los consejos que me llevo son:
- Debería buscar la tranquilidad en todos mis entornos, si mi empresa no la da.
- Si tengo una empresa, debería tratarla como un producto, con iteraciones y buscando lo que mejor acomoda a cada circunstancia.
- Que los empleados deben estar contentos para que hagan su mejor trabajo y las prestaciones que Basecamp ofrece son una aspiración.
- Esto es repetido, pero usar NO como default es mejor
- El empleador DEBE cuidar el tiempo y la atención de los empleados
Espero encontrar un plan para poder apicar muchas de las cosas que dice aquí.
Hay consejos que considero muy valiosos y creo que pueden aplicar a muchos casos, pero otros aunque parecen buenos creo que son aplicables a pocos casos y dados desde una perspectiva de la gran suerte con la que corrieron.
Esa creo que es la falla principal del libro, no todos puede darse los lujos que ellos se dan: correr clientes, hacerlos esperar hasta el otro día, no constestar mails/llamadas/mensajes después de cierta hora. Cierto, todos deberíamos buscar ir hacia allá, hacia ese entorno de trabajo ideal en el que te puedes olvidar del trabajo desde cierta hora, pero no todos lo entornos están preparados para eso, sobre todo para empresas que están batallando con la rentabiliad.
Otra error del libro es que se nota que los capítulos fueron escritos por separado y luego unidos para formar el libro, repiten muchas cosas explicándolas como si fuera la primera vez que se exponen.
Los consejos que me llevo son:
- Debería buscar la tranquilidad en todos mis entornos, si mi empresa no la da.
- Si tengo una empresa, debería tratarla como un producto, con iteraciones y buscando lo que mejor acomoda a cada circunstancia.
- Que los empleados deben estar contentos para que hagan su mejor trabajo y las prestaciones que Basecamp ofrece son una aspiración.
- Esto es repetido, pero usar NO como default es mejor
- El empleador DEBE cuidar el tiempo y la atención de los empleados
Espero encontrar un plan para poder apicar muchas de las cosas que dice aquí.
Really enjoyed this workplace-as-it-should-be as an audiobook. In the audio format, I'm not bothered by the occasional platitude, and the storytelling is smooth and entertaining throughout. Bonus points for the brevity! This only took a few hours to listen through.
Fresh perspective, good rationale, enjoyable exposition. But docking a star for too much self glorification.
Quick and easy read that may help to make a much needed shift in a workplace culture
Quick and easy read that may help to make a much needed shift in a workplace culture