Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Fantastic book with such incredible integrity - highly recommended!!!
An important book about the choices we make, directly or that are made for us, about what work we do, how that work is done, and even why we do the work we do. I love the style it is written in - no point is belabored, yet all points are made well. A strong counter to the current "the more you suffer, the more it shows you really care" attitude about work and how it can consume life.
Reading this in 2023 … it generally holds up.
The book is a collection of brief essays. Each essay has a takeaway.
For example, the “Office hours” essay explains how the Basecamp team’s subject matter experts avoid being the recipients of “quick questions” that interrupt focused time — they have weekly or daily hours set aside to receive such questions.
Sometimes you read a business book and it’s really just one or two big ideas surrounded by filler. And when you try to figure out how to apply those big ideas, it’s just too much.
What I like about It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work is that the ideas are smaller and actionable. You could try some of these things immediately.
The book is a collection of brief essays. Each essay has a takeaway.
For example, the “Office hours” essay explains how the Basecamp team’s subject matter experts avoid being the recipients of “quick questions” that interrupt focused time — they have weekly or daily hours set aside to receive such questions.
Sometimes you read a business book and it’s really just one or two big ideas surrounded by filler. And when you try to figure out how to apply those big ideas, it’s just too much.
What I like about It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work is that the ideas are smaller and actionable. You could try some of these things immediately.
I was really looking forward to read this book for quite a while. It doesn’t have to be crazy at work? It doesn’t have to be crazy at work!! And I was genuinely expecting some sort of manual of how to “set your boundaries”, “say no” etc. But it wasn’t it, and I am really happy about that. Instead, it was about how cool Basecamp is: here, we are doing all these things that makes us a great company! Which is cool, but gets boring after a while.
I guess my biggest takeaway: there are companies out there that empower you to do your best work, but also allow you to be a normal human person and get 30 days of vacay a year, work 40 hours a week, just generally have the flexibility to choose how you want to work and don’t pretend that work should be the number one priority in your life.
I guess my biggest takeaway: there are companies out there that empower you to do your best work, but also allow you to be a normal human person and get 30 days of vacay a year, work 40 hours a week, just generally have the flexibility to choose how you want to work and don’t pretend that work should be the number one priority in your life.
funny
fast-paced
Easy reading and some decent advice, but at times feels like a recruiting advertisement for Basecamp. The basic premise of the book is that we should say "No" more frequently when asked to do more / attend more meetings / send more emails, etc. Beyond that, the authors dispel the tyranny of work and information overload in a way that is reminiscent of Tim Ferris.
I listened to this book and it resonated with my work place. It was a quick read/listen and I pulled out a few great nuggets.
A quick, easy read. The concepts in this book are a little more extreme than someone in my role, or in a government organization, can adopt, but it’s nice to know they’re possible - and there are definitely some lessons I can apply.
This was a solid book of knowledge, mainly focused on how smaller, self-funded companies can build a great culture. The only reason I'm giving it three stars is that it's full of the same thoughts that the Basecamp crew (Jason and DHH) have been posting about for the past 15 years. Great advice, just nothing too new. If you're not familiar with their views on work then I highly recommend it.