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A review by poenaestante
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
2.0
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.