This short collection of simple (almost blog-style) essays is among the most readable books I recommend. The clear writing covers the principles used to run the author's small software company, 37signals.
I was reminded of this book recently when I read a transcript of a talk given by Dr. Richard Hamming, a mathematician and former Bell Labs scientist. He mentions that it is almost impossible to be original in one area without being so in a few others (1).
I think the same logic applies to leadership by principle. It is not possible to lead by principle in the morning and through micromanagement in the afternoon. I bet countless leaders who see a principled face looking back at them from their bathroom mirrors undermine their own effectiveness by abandoning their core ideas whenever tempted by the potential of short-term gain.
Over time, these leaders get lost in the details of each new decision rather than apply a consistent decision making process. The result is an endless list of exceptions (sometimes known as 'company policy') that confuses, demoralizes, or disempowers their employees.
The overall theme of the book is the effectiveness of leading by principle. Each chapter reminds leaders to keep the big picture in mind. Rework helps clarify the importance of refusing to get lost in the details and demonstrates ways to frame options against a set of core beliefs.
A couple of the book's specific examples remain with me to this day. The point about the value of strong writing influenced me greatly as a hiring manager. As clear writing is the best signal for clear thinking, the authors suggest a firm capable of identifying good writers will have a major advantage during their recruiting period. I applied this concept by asking candidates for writing samples at multiple stages of the hiring process.
I also enjoyed the point about how businesses sometimes fail to apply good ideas across the board. Rework points out 'casual Friday' to make this point. If something is a good idea for Friday, it should be a good idea the rest of the week. Just by measuring productivity levels, companies should be able to figure out the impact of casual dress on the bottom line- and adjust their dress code accordingly to improve productivity for all days of the workweek.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. Oh perfect, I needed a forty-five minute read, thanks man...
Here is a link to the talk (though I warn it is a very long read).
Here is the quote I referenced above:
"What it comes down to basically is that you cannot be original in one area without having originality in others. Originality is being different. You can't be an original scientist without having some other original characteristics."
