It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work

By: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and ""whatever it takes"" are required to run a successful business today.

In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call ""the calm company."" Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day.

Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.

It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.

Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. ""Calm"" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.

A More Sensible Way...

This simply reinforces why I want to work for and with Jason, David, and the Basecamp contingent, as they understand people and product come before profit, not in spite of or in light of. If you pour your curious heart into working effectively towards the best product, you will inevitably create all the desires and efficiencies in the workspace.

Amazing

If you're involved in business, listen to this book. Plain and simple. Basecamp is doing it right.

Holy Crap

This is the most well organized company there is. I don't know all of them, but this opportunity of working at Basecamp has more to offer then Google and Mindvalley. This is inspirational.

Excellent perspective on business

I have used basecamp for several years and appreciate so much their perspective. They believe in their employees thriving and have molded their practice around that core value.

Good reminders of what's possible

Much of the advice will be tough to pull off on a VC-backed startup, but I believe the principles are worth striving for in any company that values employees over growth.