Saya baru selesai membaca buku Rework, yang ditulis oleh Jason Fried. Jason Fried adalah pendiri 37 signals, salah satu produknya Basecamp, mungkin Anda pernah gunakan.
Rework memberikan pandangan yang lain tentang bisnis. Banyak ide yang berbeda dengan pandangan umum, misalnya tentang workaholism, jumlah karyawan di perusahaan, perencanaan jangka panjang, press release, dan lain-lain. Pribadi, saya merasa isi buku rework sangat applicable untuk perusahaan startup.
Summary dari isi buku ini bisa dibaca di bawah.
INTRODUCTION
We’re an intentionally small company that makes software to help small companies and groups get things done the easy way
1999: start as 3 person web-design consulting firm
2004: create basecamp
2009: basecamp generates millions of dollars a year in profits
Other products
– highrise: contact manager and simple CRM tools, userd by tens of thousands of small businesses
– backpack: intranet and knowledge-sharing tool, 500.000 user
– campfire: real-time business chat tool
You’ll learn how to begin, why you need less than you think, when to launch, how to get the word out, whom (and when) to hire, and how to keep it all under control
TAKEDOWN
Ignore the real world
They expect fresh concept to fail
We’ve done all those things and prospered
– have more than 12 employees spread out in 8 different cities
– attract millions of customers without any salespeople/advertising
– reveal your formula for success to the rest of the world
Learning from mistakes is overrated
Learn from your successes, success gives you real amunition
Already successful entrepreneurs are far more likely to succeed again
Planning is guessing
Financial guessing, strategic guessing, etc
Plans are inconsistent with improvisation. Sometimes you need to say, “We’re going in a new direction because that’s what makes sense today”
Decide what you are going to do this week, not this year. Make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance.
Just get on the plane and go
Blindly following a plan that has no relationship with reality is even scarier
Why grow
Find the right size and stay there
Grow slow and feel what is right
Don’t feel insecure about aiming to be a small business
Anyone who runs a business that’s sustainable and profitable, whether it is big or small, should be proud
Workaholism
Working more doesn’t mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more
The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done
GO
Make a dent in the universe
Your efforts need to feel valuable
You want your customers to say “this makes my life better”
You should feel an urgency about this too
What you do is your legacy. Don’t just sit around for someone else to make the change you want to see
Scratch your own itch
Create something you want to use
Solve your own problem approach lets you fall in love with what you’re making
Start making something
What you do is what matters, not what you think or say or plan
No time is no excuse
When you want something bad enough, you make the time. Most people just don’t want it bad enough
Draw a line in the sand
As you get going, keep in mind why you’re doing what you’re doing
Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service
You have to believe in something
Strong opinions aren’t free. You’ll turn some people off
We’re just as proud of what our products don’t do as we are of what they do
We design them to be simple because we believe most software is too complex. That’s our line in the sand
When you stand for something, decisions are obvious
Whole Foods stand for selling the highest quality natural and organic foods available
Mission statement impossible
Standing for something isn’t just about writing it down
It’s about believing and living it
Outside money is plan Z
You wind up building what investors want instead of what customers want
You need less than you think
Great companies start in garage all the time. Yours can too
Start a business, not a startup
The startup is a magical place: expenses are someone else’s problem, revenue is never an issue, you can spend other people’s money until you figure out a way to make your own. It’s a fairy tale
Actual businesses have to deal with actual things like bill and payroll. Actual business worry about profit from day one
You need commitment strategy, not exit strategy
PROGRESS
Embrace constraints
Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to do with what you’ve got. That forces you to be creative
Shakespeare reveled in the limitation of sonnnet
The Price is Right based on one simple question “how much does this item cost?”
Southwest only fly Boeing 737
Build half a product, not a half-assed product
You have limited time, resources, ability, and focus
Lots of things get better as they get shorter
We cut this book from 57.000 words to 27.000
Start at the epicenter
There’s the stuff you could do, the stuff you want to do, and the stuff you have to do
Start with the stuf you have to do,the epicenter
Ignore the details early on
Nail abour the basics first and worry about the specifics later on
Making the call is making progress
Whenever you can, swap “let’s think about it” for “let’s decide about it”
You don’t have to live with a decision forever
Make the call, make progress, and get something out now
Be a curator
It’s the stuff you leave out that matters
Constantly look for things to remove, simplify, and streamline
Pasolive Olive Oil: it’s not about packaging, marketing, or price. It’s about quality
Throw less at the problem
The menus at failing restaurants offer too many dishes
When things aren’t working, the right way is cut back. More people, money, time is making the problem bigger
Focus on what won’t change
Things that people are going to want today and ten years from now
Amazon.com fast (or free) shipping, great selection, friendly return policies, and affordable prices
Japanese automakers: reliability, affordability, and practicality
37signals: speed, simplicity, ease of use, and clarity
Tone is in your fingers
Fancy gear can help, but the truth is your tone comes from you
In business, too many people obsess over tools. What really matters is how to actually get customers and make money.
Sell your by products
Book Getting Real is by product, made $1millions directly for 37signals
Ford built charcoal plant
Launch now
Put off anything you don’t need for launch. Build the necessities now, you can worry about the luxuries later
When we launched basecamp, we didn’t even have the ability to bill customers
PRODUCTIVITY
Illusions of agreement
Dead documents that do nothing but waste people’s time
Get something real rightaway
Reasons to quit
Why are you doing this?
What is this for? Who benefits? What’s the motivation behind it?
What problem are you solving? What’s the problem? Are customers confused? Are you confused? Is something not clear enough? Was something not possible before that should be possible now?
Is this actually useful? Cool wears off, useful never does
Are you adding value? Adding something is easy, adding value is hard. Too much ketchup can ruin the fries
Will this change behavior? How people use your product
Is there an easier way?
What could you be doing instead? What can’t you do because you are doing this? Prioritization
Is it really worth it? Is this meeting worth pulling 6 people off their work 1 hour? Is it worth pulling an all nighter tonight?
Determine the real value of what you are about to do
Interruption is the enemy of productivity
Interruption is not collaboration, it’s just interruption
Alone zone, where we most productive
Meetings are toxic
1 hour meeting with 10 people is 10 hour meeting
Rules: set a timer, invite as few people as possible, always have a clear agenda, begin with a specific problem, end with solution and someone responsible for implementing it
Good enough is fine
Judo solution: maximum efficiency with minimum effort
You can turn good enough into great later
Quick wins
Momentum fuels motivation, by getting something done and then moving on to the next thing
What can we do in 2 weeks?
Don’t be a hero
2 hours work turns into 16 hours work. Is it worth it? If not, leave it
If you spent too much time on something that wasn’t worth it, walk away
Your estimates suck
Break big thing into smaller things. The smaller it is, the easier it is to estimate
COMPETITORS
Don’t copy
Copying skips understanding, and understanding is how you grow
Decommoditize your product
Make you part of your product or service: how you sell it, how you support it, how you explain it, and how you deliver it
Inject what’s unique about the way you think into what you sell
Zappos, injecting Tony Hsieh obsession with customer service into everything it does
Pick a fight
Having an enemy gives you a great story to tell customer
Taking a stand always stand out
Underdo your competition
Do less than your competitors to beat them
Who cares what they are doing?
In the end, it’s not worth paying much to the competition. It leads to stress and anxiety
EVOLUTION
Say no by default
ING Direct bank offers just a few products
Your goal is to make sure your product stays right for you
Let your customers outgrow you
Adding power user features to satisfy some can intimidate those who aren’t onboard yet
When your customers outgrow you, you’ll most likely wind up with a product that’s basic – and that’s fine. Small, simple, basic needs are constant
Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority
Let your grand ideas cool off for a while
Have as manu great ideas as you can. Get excited about them. Just don’t act in the heat of the moment. Evaluate their actual priority with a calm mind
Be at-home good
When you get the product home, you’re actually more impressed with it than you were in the store
You may have to sacrifice a bit of in-store sizzles
You’re aiming for a long term relationship, not a one night stand
Don’t write it down
Listen, but then forget what customers said
The requests that really matter are the ones you’ll hear over and over
PROMOTION
Welcome obscurity
Use this time to make mistakes without the whole world hearing about them
If millions of people are using your product, every change you make will have a bigger impact
Build an audience
All companies have customers. Lucky companies have fans. But the most fortunate companies have audience
An audience returns often – on it’s own – to see what you have to say
Build an audience: speak, write, blog, tweet, make videos. Share information that’s valuable and you’ll slowly but surely build a loyal audience
Out-teach your competition
Etsy hold entrepreneurial workshop
Teach, and you’ll form a bond. They’ll trust you more. They’ll respect you more
Bigger companies can’t do
Emulate chefs
Emulate famous chefs, they cook so they write cookbooks
A recipe is much easier to copy than businesses
Go behind the scenes
People are curious about how things made
Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They’ll feel a bond and see you as human beings instead of faceless company
Nobody likes plastic flowers
Imperfections are real, and people respond to real
Wabi-sabi pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry
So talk like you really talk. Reveal things that others are unwilling to discuss. Be upfront about your shortcomings. Show the latest version of what you are working on, it’s ok if it’s not perfect
Press releases are spam
Instead, call someone. Write personal note. Pitch journalist with some passion, some interest, some life. Do something meaningful. Be remarkable. Stand out
Niche media over mass media
Pitching to reporter at mass media is practically impossible
Focussing on getting your story into a trade publication or picked up by niche blogger
Drug dealers get it right
Don’t afraid to give a little away for free, as long as you’ve got something else to sell
Be confident in your offering. You should know that people will come back for more
Marketing is not a department
Marketing isn’t just an individual events
It’s the sum total of everything you do: answer phone, send email, someone use product, etc
The myth of overnight sensation
Trade the dream of overnight success for slow, measured growth. You have to do it for a long time before the right people notice
Once you have some customers and a history, you’ll have a story to tell. Just launching isn’t a good story
Start building your audience today. Start getting people interested in what you have to say
HIRING
Do it yourself first
You may feel out of your element at times. You can hire your way out of that feeling, or you can learn your way out of it
You should want to be intimately involved in all aspects of your business
Hire when it hurts
Don’t hire for pleasure. Hire to kill pain
If you lose someone, don’t replace him immediately
The right time to hire is when there’s more work than you can handle for a sustained period of time. There should be things you can’t do anymore. You should notice the quality level slipping. That’s when it hurts
Pass on great people
Pass on hiring people you don’t need
Problem start when you have more people than you need
Strangers at a cocktail party
You need an environment where everyone feels safe enough to be honest when things get tough. You need to know how far you can push someone. You need to know what people really mean when they say something
So hire slowly, to avoid winding up at a cocktail party with strangers
Years of irrelevance
There’s little difference berween candidate with 6 months or 6 years of experience. The real difference comes from the individual dedication, personality, and intelligence
What matters is how well they’ve been doing it
Everybody works
Delegators are dead weight for small teams
Hire managers of one
People who come up with their own goals and execute them
Look at their backgrounds. They’ve run something on their own or launched some kind of project
Finding these people frees the rest of your team to work more and manage less
Hire great writers
Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Great writers know how to communicate
Writing is today’s currency for good ideas
Test drive employees
You’ll judge them by their actions instead of just their words
DAMAGE CONTROL
Own your bad news
The message should come from the top
Spread the message far and wide
Apologize the way a real person would and explain what happened in detail
Honestly be concerned about the fate of your customers – then prove it
Speed changes everything
Answer customers complaint quickly
How to say you’re sorry
Bad example: we are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused
How would you feel about the apology if you were on the other end? Would you believe them?
Put everyone on the front lines
Everyone on your team should be connected to your customers – maybe not everyday
That’s the only way your team is going to feelt he hurt your customers are experiencing, it really motivates people to fix the problem
The joy of happy customers can also be wildly motivating
Take a deep breath
People are creatures of habit, they react to change in such a negative way
When people complain, let things simmer for a while
CULTURE
You don’t create a culture
Instant cultures are artificial
You don’t create culture, it happens. If you encourage people to share, then sharing will be built into your culture. If you reward trust then trust will be built in
Decisions are temporary
It’s not a problem until it’s not a real problem
If circustances change, your decision can change, especially in small companies
Skip the rock stars
The environment has a lot more to do with great work
Rockstar environment develop out of trust, autonomy, and responsibility. They’re a result of giving people the privacy, workspace, and tools they deserve
Great environments show respect for the people who do the work, and how they do it
They’re not thirteen
When everything constantly need approval, you create a culture of non thinkers. You create boss-worker relationship that screams “I don’t trust you”
Failing to trust your employees is expensive
Send people home at 5
You don’t need more hours, you need better hours
People with life outside work, they get the work done at office. They find ways to be more efficient because they have to
You shouldn’t expect job to be someone’s entire life
Don’t scar on the first cut
Don’t create policies because one person did something wrong once
Policies are meant for situations that come up over and over again
Sound like you
There’s nothing wrong with sounding your own size. Don’t be afraid to be you
Talk to customers they way you would to friends (in email, packaging, interviews, blog post, presentations, etc)
When you’re writing, write for one person (not a mob), then you’re a lot more to hit the target
4 letter words
There are 4 letter words that you should never use in business: need, must, can’t, easy, just, only, and fast. It creates black-and-white situation
Instead of need: “what do you think about this?”
Their cousins: everyone, no one, always, never
“We need to add these feature now. We can’t launch without these features. Everyone wants it. ”
ASAP is poison
Use emergency language for true emergencies
CONCLUSION
Inspiration is perishable
Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk
Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it won’t wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing
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