Book review - Remote + It doesn't have to be crazy at work by Jason Fried and David H. Hansson

Small review of these two books written by Jason Fried and David H. Hansson

Ok, I’ve cheated here: it’s not one book but two. But written by the same guys, following a similar philosophy and they are very easy to read with big typeface and lots of great art. Actually they have some other cool books.

Jason Fried and David H. Hansson work at 37signals, a software company where the culture is very important and special. They are pioneers working remotely and they encourage their people to work smart, in a calm environment, at a sustainable pace, promoting respect for their lifes from work. They go against growth as a measure of a company’s success.

I really love these 2 books.

Remote cover

Highlighted quotes

Rather than providing a summary of the book, which may be biased or influenced by my personal opinions or writing style, I prefer to spotlight select phrases from the text that I found particularly inspiring.

From Remote:

I read the Spanish version, so these quotes can be a bit different in the English version.

👉 Open offices have become interruptions factories

👉 Recognizing that offices are there to impress clients frees the owner to turn them into the best theater experience possible

👉 Going to an office just means people have to wear pants. There is no guarantee of productivity

👉 If we can’t let our employees work from home for fear they will slack off when we don’t supervise them, we are babysitters, not managers

👉 We shouldn’t hire someone we don’t trust or work for a boss who doesn’t trust us

👉 There is nothing more arrogant than absorbing someone’s time with a question for which we need an immediate answer

👉 One hour meetings do not exist. If we’re in a room with five people for one hour, that’s a five-hour meeting

👉 A director who is aware does not need to manage the chairs. Most of the time it is irrelevant when or where they are doing the work

👉 The best long-term workers are always those who work sustainable hours

👉 No one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time in the office

From It doesn’t have to be crazy at work:

👉 Sustained exhaustion is not a badge of honor, it’s a mark of stupidity.

👉 Leave a lasting impression with the people you touch and worry less (or not at all!!) about changing the world.

👉 When people focus on productivity, they end up focusing on being busy.

👉 What’s worse is when management holds up certain people as having a great “work ethic” because they’re always around, always available, always working. This is a terrible example of a work ethic and a great example of someone who is overworked.

👉 We do care and we do help. But a family we are not. And neither is your business. We’re people who work together to build something, and we are proud of it. That’s enough.

👉 Following group-chats at work is like being in an all-day meeting with random participants and no agenda. It’s completely exhausting.

👉 You have to keep asking yourself if the way you are working today is the way you’d want to work in 10, 20, 30 years. If not, now is the time to make a change, no “later”. Later is where excuses live.

👉 Rearranging your daily patterns to find more time for work is not the problem. Too much shit to do is the problem.