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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work cover art

It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work

Written by: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
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Publisher's Summary

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times best-seller 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 attacks 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 20 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 an audiobook telling you what to do. It’s an audiobook 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.

©2018 Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work

Average Customer Ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great

simple and clear. I did love it. Focus in what matters and avoid distractions as a result things will get done on time

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent guide to a terrific company.

Through explaining how they do things, Basecamp shows that it truly doesn't need to be crazy at work. I loved hearing how they learned and changed how they do things to make a better environment for getting work done and being happy at work.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

solid advice

some of the content is rehashed from Rework. overall if you are a SMB owner great value.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Some great ideas

Was an easy listen with very short chapters. There were some great ideas that I will be implementing but, overall, I would have loved for the book to have a more coherent proposed process/framework to apply. It seems more like a draft/collection of ideas organized loosely by theme instead of a full fledged business book.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Simple yet powerful way of thinking

Great book, very informative and utilizes excellent examples across the board. Yes it uses Basecamp a lot, but theres a lot to learn from Basecamp. Getting an insight on how to work better is profoundly more valuable than spending 80 hrs a week trying to work harder. If you have a job, you should read this book.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Some interesting perspectives in here

Overall very insightful. Definitely causes many moments of reflection to challenge your existing mindsets. Enjoyable read/listen.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • TG
  • 2018-12-13

Great work, similar to other books

The books from this team follow a very similar theme that is beneficial to hear: slow down and do less but do what you do well and enjoy it. Their books tend not to offer strict guidance and instead generalities. Not extremely different from their other books.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it

The title says it all.

You're not crazy for thinking your work-life shouldn't be this way. Jason Fried does a great job of conveying productivity doesn't equal efficiency. It's okay to wind down and have things calm around the office.

Calm means meetings as a last resort. Calm means creating an office that enables employees to do their best work.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

basically a self case study

This is a book written by Basecamp telling us how they do everything opposite of everyone else and how great they are for it. Some of the things made sense and had merit, but a lot of it was just talk. I will saying flipping common business practices on their head makes for a good thought experiment but i’m very much doubting if it would be a good idea to do everything Basecamp does (or claims they do)

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • seb
  • 2019-04-05

you are in for a 8 hour commercial for basecamp

when i purchased this book, i thought it was about stress in the workplace. the book is actually about how good basecamp is.
some companies do this , basecamp does the opposite .
some companies set goals, basecamp doesn't.
some companies set long term goals , basecamp does the opposite
for 8 hours it will give an example of what someone does then tell you the reason basecamp does it better. some was contradictory, a few points were good ideas (the reason i gave 3 stars).
the title should have said it is a story about basecamp, the title was misleading.

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1 person found this helpful