I read 『NO HARD WORK!　無駄ゼロで結果を出すぼくらの働き方』 ジェイソン フリード (著), デイヴィッド ハイネマイヤー ハンソン (著), 久保 美代子 (翻訳) (NO HARD WORK! by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson), so I’ll share the insights I gained from this book.

Background: A Book by DHH

I read this book because it was authored by DHH.

Below are quotes and notes from sections that made an impression on me.

Keep Your Ambitions in Check

Don't Work Too Hard

Entrepreneurs don't need heroic tales of survival. Most of the time it's more boring than that. There's rarely heart-racing moments like jumping over exploding cars in wild chases - it's mostly mundane work like laying bricks and painting walls. So I give you permission to stop working so hard. Work consistently every day, but don't work too long. You can be successful as an entrepreneur while still having time to play with your children. You can enjoy hobbies. You can take care of your body. You can read books.

I want to consistently build up and succeed as an entrepreneur.

Our Goal = Don't Set Goals

That's why we don't set goals at Basecamp. We didn't set goals when we started the company, and nearly 20 years later, we still don't set them. We just do our best every day.

An approach of doing our best every day instead of setting goals.

Moreover, goal setting has an even darker side. While chasing goals and trying to reach arbitrary numbers, morals, integrity, and well-being often get compromised.

The negative side of setting numerical targets.

Protect Your Own Time

Eight Hours Is Enough, 40 Hours Is Plenty

Forty hours a week is enough. Whether it's doing good work, winning competitions, or getting important work done, there's plenty of time.

Eight hours of work per day is sufficient.

When you can't fit everything you want to do into 40 hours a week, you don't need to extend your working hours - you need to be more selective about what you should do.

Be selective about what you should do.

FOMO? JOMO!

FOMO is the fear and anxiety of being left behind (Fear of Missing Out). It's a troublesome emotion that creates compulsive behavior to check Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, Instagram stories, WhatsApp groups, and new apps.

Confronting FOMO.

Enough already. Let that information be missed! Most people miss most things most of the time. At Basecamp, we encourage that. JOMO! The joy of missing out (Joy of Missing Out).

Making JOMO the norm.

Foster Organizational Culture

We're Not Family

Be wary when company executives start talking about their company being like a big family. They rarely say the things that a healthy family would say, like the company will protect you no matter what, or love you unconditionally.

I share this perspective.

The Owner's Words Weigh a Ton

There's no such thing as a casual suggestion from a company or business owner. When the person who pays your salary says this or that, this or that becomes the top priority.

Being aware of the weight of an owner’s words.

As an organizational leader, it takes strong self-control not to throw ideas at everyone else. Every such idea is like a stone thrown into a pond - it creates ripples. If you keep throwing stones into the pond, you won't be able to see the big picture at all.

Self-restraint in throwing out ideas.

Deconstructing Processes

Real-Time Is Bad Time

Regarding chat, we have two important rules learned from experience: first, "mostly use email and limit real-time chat to 'occasional' use," and second, "don't make snap decisions about important matters - decide slowly."

For internal communication, Chat = Slack Email = GitHub issues, discussions This distinction.

Beware of 12-Day Work Weeks

Friday is the worst day to release something.

We basically have a policy of not releasing on Fridays.

"Doing Nothing" Is the Best Option

"We can't just do nothing about this" This phrase is often heard, but is it really true? Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing. "Doing nothing" should always be included as an option.

The option of “doing nothing.”

Best Practices Are an Illusion

Unless you're actually doing the work, you don't have the right to talk about best practices for that work.

Don’t talk about best practices for things you haven’t had hands-on experience with.

Teams of Three

Small multiple teams can accomplish big things, but it's much, much harder for big teams to do small things. And small things are the result of being reduced to only the important stuff. While big things can also be important, most improvements are accomplished by accumulating small steps. Big teams tend to step over those small steps.

I want to achieve big things with small multiple teams.

That’s all from the Gemba.