I’m not a DHH hater nor fanboy. I became aware of him by Internet chattering about his views, Ruby on Rails, moving away from the Cloud for some of his company’s products (I think?), and something about choosing JavaScript with no build system.

And yet somehow I ended up getting three of his books.

Rework is all about rethinking some of the common (dare I say “best”?) practices in maintaining and leading a business. Seeing and listening to someone start-ups and other business owners trying to strike it big and “moving fast”, this is a refreshing antidote to the poisonous paradigm that pervades a lot of the entrepeneurial world.

The book itself is very easy reading, though packed with a lot of insight through the actual experiences of the authors. The language is concise, with chapters only spanning at most 3 pages. At 273 pages, that’s actually a lot of content and topics covered.

It’s also somewhat vulgar which I don’t put as a mark against it. I’d take vulgar honesty and genuineness over bland corporate-speak platitudes (that may or may not even be effective) in the first place.

(Incidentally, I’ve found whatever serif typeface and font size that’s used here easy on the eyes and brain. It looks similar to the typeface used in a lot of C.S. Lewis books that are published by HarperCollins.)

This is a great read not just if you’re looking to open a business yourself, but for any and all friends and family that are genuinely striving to do good in the business realm. While the authors speak out of their experience from the tech industry, a lot of the advice given can easily be applied to others.

And with that, I’ll leave you with (some of) the Table of Contents:

  • First
    • The new reality
  • Takedowns
    • Ignore the real world
    • Learning from mistakes is overrated
    • Planning is guessing
    • Why grow?
    • Workaholism
    • Enough with “entrepeneurs”
  • 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 startup
    • Building to flip is building to flop
    • Less mass
  • Progress
    • Embrace constraints
    • Build half a product, not a half-assed product
    • 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