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esaracristina 's review for:
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
I wouldn't exactly call this a 'book', but more like a collection of articles/blog posts - short, concise, and to the point; which I appreciated more, since I believe most non-fiction books to be very tiring precisely because they choose to express a simple idea in way too many words or even chapters.
I've been meaning to read it for years, but somehow ended up reading it right when I needed it the most. Especially if you are working in the tech industry, you will find that Jason Fried paints a very good picture of the toxic corporate environment and the hardcore competitiveness and grit culture you find in tech companies. With each chapter, he explains not only the bad and the ugly that every corporate worker experiences, but also how he & his co-founder managed to change this at Basecamp. His experience and the solutions he proposes to change the norm are quite interesting and, as an employee in a big tech company myself, I was glad to find there is still hope for this industry – that someone out there could and DID do it differently, that it’s a choice and, given the right circumstances, others could make better choices for their employees too.
Although there aren't any ground-breaking tips and very few actionable steps you can take away from it (I only say this because Basecamp’s business model is an exception, an outlier, it cannot be feasible for all kinds of organizations and it's definitely not feasible for those who work in big tech, only in startups/smaller scale companies), I believe this ‘book’ is essential for any manager/team leader out there, no matter the field they work in or their level of experience. If not to serve as an inspiration, then at least to gather insights into what your workers might be unhappy about in the workplace.
P.S.: I must also note how the entire ‘book’ is a brilliant employer branding & PR execution for Basecamp and its founders. It might not have been meant as such (who knows), but I don’t see how any reader could finish this text without at least looking up Basecamp online or thinking this sounds like a dream job.
I've been meaning to read it for years, but somehow ended up reading it right when I needed it the most. Especially if you are working in the tech industry, you will find that Jason Fried paints a very good picture of the toxic corporate environment and the hardcore competitiveness and grit culture you find in tech companies. With each chapter, he explains not only the bad and the ugly that every corporate worker experiences, but also how he & his co-founder managed to change this at Basecamp. His experience and the solutions he proposes to change the norm are quite interesting and, as an employee in a big tech company myself, I was glad to find there is still hope for this industry – that someone out there could and DID do it differently, that it’s a choice and, given the right circumstances, others could make better choices for their employees too.
Although there aren't any ground-breaking tips and very few actionable steps you can take away from it (I only say this because Basecamp’s business model is an exception, an outlier, it cannot be feasible for all kinds of organizations and it's definitely not feasible for those who work in big tech, only in startups/smaller scale companies), I believe this ‘book’ is essential for any manager/team leader out there, no matter the field they work in or their level of experience. If not to serve as an inspiration, then at least to gather insights into what your workers might be unhappy about in the workplace.
P.S.: I must also note how the entire ‘book’ is a brilliant employer branding & PR execution for Basecamp and its founders. It might not have been meant as such (who knows), but I don’t see how any reader could finish this text without at least looking up Basecamp online or thinking this sounds like a dream job.