by Rob McVey

Rework - By 37signals

37signals, the high-profile web-based software company behind Basecamp, are causing heated discussion with the launch of a controversial new business book. The book, Rework, is written by 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. It claims to tear up the business rule book and give a whole new set of insights into how to achieve success.

Rework looks at typical business practices – like  meetings, long-term planning, looking for outside investment – and argues that in a changing world we need to rethink (or rework?) our most basic strategies. One chapter “Planning is Guessing” sums up the authors’ attitude: it’s all about quick decisions and fast action.
 
Readers and critics are divided about this. Billionaire HDnet founder Mark Cuban gives Rework’s philosophy a massive thumbs-up: “If given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has an MBA, I’m investing in Rework every time. A must read for every entrepreneur.”  On the other hand, restaurateur John Vincent writes in Management Today that the authors are too sweeping in their dismissal of basic business strategies – he even describes some of their advice as “dangerous” - and questions whether their model would work in all sectors.

What no-one denies is that the book is causing a stir. Available in bookstores and through Amazon, it’s being marketed mainly online, with reviews on YouTube and an ongoing discussion on Twitter. The tweets so far are overwhelmingly positive, with readers posting their favourite quotes from the book (“Long to-do lists are guilt trips” seems to strike a chord with many.)

Rework is based on the authors’ 10 years of experience in business. They started 37signals in 1999 as a web design firm and moved into web-based software in 2005. A major reason for the move was the huge success in 2004 of Basecamp, their online project management tool which now has over 3 million users around the world. Other products from 37signals include the Campfire collaboration tool and open source web application framework Ruby on Rails.

Fried and Heinemeier Hansson have long realised the potential of the World Wide Web, and they’re experts in making full use of its marketing possibilities. They launched their Signal vs Noise blog in 2007 and the 37signals Live podcast a year later; their products have always benefited from maximum online exposure, so it’s not surprising that the new book has been brought to the public attention so quickly.

Whether or not you want to follow all the advice in Rework, it’s certainly true that more and more internet companies are taking the same route as the book’s authors in using new technology and maintaining a high online profile.

Rework is available now, and online from Amazon and many other good online book stores

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