My (Fake) Review of Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

I was recently required at work to read the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. I must admit that under the surmounting pressure of all the reading I'm supposed to do (and of course don't do) for school I haven't had time to read the book. However, considering my knowledge of several other business books I've read I thought it would be fun to write a review about the book without actually reading it (strikingly similar to every literary essay I've ever written). Thus, I present to you my (fake) review of Rework:

 

Rework is short and to the point, much like another book I reviewed. It skims over a few examples from the company the authors work for and provides tips from the lessons they've learned. There is some valuable information in this book, but it's buried deep beneath a lot of other tips and lessons I've learned from countless other books, blogs, and articles.     One of the central themes in Rework is to work smarter, not harder. This entails everything from not spending more time than necessary on projects to limiting the time you spend in company meetings. One of the golden rules in software engineering is to not "reinvent the wheel", a quote that resonates well after reading Rework.   It works. Move on now plz   We've implemented a few of the ideas found in Rework in the office. Here are my thoughts on two of them:   Timing meetings. I think it's important to keep your meetings short and relevant, but if people are on a roll I see no sense in cutting them off just because a timer ran out. No distractions work time. Should work great in theory, except as an intern when I come in to the office 30 minutes into "no distractions work time" I get to sit around for an hour and a half until I can actually talk to my boss.   While I do think Rework was an overall good book and has many applications to the business world, I personally feel it could have brought more to the table. Real world examples go a long way, and without evidence your strategies work you're just preaching to the choir. I also found it humorous that the book encourages us to stay on our feet and move at the speed of light, while they also expect you to set aside a few hours of your valuable time in order to get through the book. All in all I would recommend giving it a read, but don't expect its lessons to turn your business around overnight.

 

In the end I think you could say I practice what Rework teaches better than most. Rather than spending time reading the book to learn how to avoid work, I was already one step ahead by not even reading the book at all. Maybe I should write a book…

Have you read Rework? Think I'm dead-on or totally off my rocker? Sound off in the comments.