There is much to like in the new book Rework, from the founders of 37signals. The book, geared toward small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs, is a collection of common-sense and (self-described) contrarian views on everything from the work hours necessary to be successful when starting a business…
“Send people home at 5…You don’t need more hours, you need better hours.”
to the need to focus on building your company rather than on external financing or the minuscule odds of making a big payoff someday…
“You need a commitment strategy, not an exit strategy. You should be thinking about how to make your project grow and succeed, not how you’re going to jump ship. If your whole strategy is based on leaving, chances are you won’t get far in the first place.”
Much of the commentary on the book has centered around whether the success of 37signals as an independent, profitable software operation is applicable to the majority of small and internet-focused businesses.
For me, the book is one more data point confirming a theory I have held for sometime; that we are moving toward an environment in which there really are two “camps” of IT professionals (and IT shops). On one extreme are enterprise IT and those within it, and on the other startups and small businesses. As in most tribalism, each extreme is easily painted with incorrect stereotypes, and a false choice is presented between them – you can belong to one camp or the other, but not both. Its easy to look across the chasm at the other side and make little effort to understand their real challenges or what might be learned from them. If an individual moves between camps, it is very likely by leaving the enterprise world for the small-business world, never to look back.