It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work

A few weeks ago the new book “It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work” from the founders of 37Signals (which is now Basecamp) Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson got published. It is the fourth book, after their latest releases: Rework, Remote and Getting Real. Since the community has anticipated it for quite a while now the expectations were high. Quick recap: it’s great!

“It begins with this idea: Your company is a product.”

This book does not work as a manual how to structure and lead a company. The idea behind it all is to show how Jason and David built their company and are running it since then. The readers can learn about the unconventional company culture of Basecamp. The mentioned methods and ideas can spark inspirations and may help to rethink the own company culture. After all it is a tough challenge to change the overall working culture inside a running company.

Basecamp implemented the calm company principle and continues to fill this principle with life. There are no fake goals to archive or unrealistic numbers to reach.

“We come in peace. We don’t have imperial ambitions. We aren’t trying to dominate an industry or a market. We wish everyone well. To get ours, we don’t need to take theirs.”

It’s a short but very well written book for everyone interested in becoming a bit more calm while doing good work. We at D-LABS highly recommend reading this book over the holidays and hope everyone gets as inspired as we are.

“No matter where you live in an organization, you can start making better choices. Choices that chip away at crazy and get closer to calm.”