Rework is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is short, simple, easy to read and most importantly very straight to the point and full of easy-to-follow advice.
Below are some key points that I would always want to remind myself about the lessons from the book.
- On Go
- Make a dent in the universe
- Start making something
- Start a business, not a start-up
- On productivity
- Interruption is the enemy of productivity
- Quick wins
- On progress
- Embrace constraints
- Start at the epicenter
- Be a curator
- Launch now
- On promotion
- Build an audience
- Out-teach your competition
- Drug dealers get it right
- Marketing is not a department
There are few other sections like Takedown, hiring, damage control, culture etc.
Full list of chapters:
FIRST
- The new reality
TAKEDOWNS
- Ignore the real world
- Learning from mistakes is overrated
- Planning is guessing
- Why grow?
- Workaholism
- Enough with “entrepreneurs”
GO
- Make a dent in the universe
- Scratch your own itch
- Start making something
- No time is no excuse
- Draw a line in the sand
- Mission statement impossible
- Outside money is Plan Z
- You need less than you think
- Start a business, not a start-up
- Building to flip is building to flop
- Less mass
PROGRESS
- Embrace constraints
- Build half, not half-ass
- Start at the epicenter
- Ignore the details early on
- Making the call is making progress
- Be a curator
- Throw less at the problem
- Focus on what won’t change
- Tone is in your fingers
- Sell your by-products
- Launch now
PRODUCTIVITY
- Illusions of agreement
- Reasons to quit
- Interruption is the enemy of productivity
- Meetings are toxic
- Good enough is fine
- Quick wins
- Don’t be a hero
- Go to sleep
- Your estimates suck
- Long lists don’t get done
- Make tiny decisions
COMPETITORS
- Don’t copy
- Decommoditize your product
- Pick a fight
- Underdo your competition
- Who cares what they’re doing?
EVOLUTION
- Say no by default
- Let your customers outgrow you
- Don’t confuse enthusiasm with priority
- Be at-home good
- Don’t write it down
PROMOTION
- Welcome obscurity
- Build an audience
- Out-teach your competition
- Emulate chefs
- Go behind the scenes
- Nobody likes plastic flowers
- Press releases are spam
- Forget about the Wall Street Journal
- Drug dealers get it right
- Marketing is not a department
- The myth of the overnight sensation
HIRING
- Do it yourself first
- Hire when it hurts
- Pass on great people
- Strangers at a cocktail party
- Resumes are ridiculous
- Years of irrelevance
- Forget about formal education
- Everybody works
- Hire managers of one
- Hire great writers
- The best are everywhere
- Test-drive employees
DAMAGE CONTROL
- Own your bad news
- Speed changes everything
- How to say you’re sorry
- Put everyone on the front lines
- Take a deep breath
CULTURE
- You don’t create a culture
- Decisions are temporary
- Skip the rock stars
- They’re not thirteen
- Send people home at 5:00
- Don’t scar on the first cut
- Sound like you
- Four-letter words
- ASAP is poison
CONCLUSION
- Inspiration is perishable
RESOURCES
- About 37signals
- 37signals products