Book Review: It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
It doesn’t have to be crazy at work. The title alone is music to my ears.
The authors of this book are the founders of the extremely successful software company Basecamp. It’s a riveting case study on how they have created a company culture where ‘calm’ is celebrated over ‘crazy’, and where doing less is the foundation of productivity and success.
Here are 3 of my favourite messages from the book:
1. Great work requires uninterrupted time
A company’s most valuable resource is its employees’ time and attention. This sounds like common sense, yet so many people these days are working longer and later, because they can’t get work done at work anymore
Some of the practical ways Basecamp protect their people’s time include:
Meetings as a last resort - especially meetings involving lots of people. Most things discussed in meetings can be resolved more quickly and efficiently with fewer people and via other forms of communication.
No open calendars - if other people can put meetings in your calendar whenever they like, you don’t own the majority of your time. This makes it almost impossible to be calm and productive.
Office hours - subject-matter experts in the business have set ‘office hours’ during the week where others can pop over to their desk or call them to get their advice. This means that outside these office hours they can focus on their work for hours at a time without interruption.
Eventual not immediate response - everyone at Basecamp is encouraged to stay off email, chat, and instant messages for long periods of uninterrupted time. The vast majority of things that we think are urgent really aren’t.
2. Working 40 hours a week is plenty.
At Basecamp no-one works more than 40 hours. Less is often fine too. In Summer they take Fridays off so work 32 hours and “still get plenty of good stuff done”.
3. We are not family
When companies talk about themselves as a big family they - intentionally or unintentionally - encourage people to do whatever it takes to do their best by ‘the family’, regardless of the cost to other parts of their lives.
As the authors so succinctly put it: “The best companies are not families. They’re supporters of families. Allies of families. They’re there to provide healthy, fulfilling work environments so that when workers shut their laptops at a reasonable hour, they’re the best husbands, wives, parents, siblings and children they can be.”
This book has so many more fascinating insights and practical tips about how Basecamp have created a very different, and hugely successful, kind of workplace. I strongly encourage you to read it!