Rebroadcast: 37Signals' Jason Fried on Why Work Doesn't Have To Suck

Jason Fried thinks deeply about collaboration, productivity and the nature of work. He's the co-founder of project management platform Basecamp. Founded in 1999, Basecamp has been recognised by Forbes as one of America’s best small businesses. His 2010 TED talk on ‘Why Work Doesn’t Happen At Work’ has been viewed over 5 million times. He’s also the co-author of Rework, which is about new ways to conceptualize working and creating, as well as the brand new ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work’, in which he rejects the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today. The Economist called the book funny, well-written and iconoclastic and by far the best thing on management published this year. As somebody who shares many of Jason’s philosophies on work, I really enjoyed this conversation. Organisations are projected to invest US$2T into digital transformation by 2022 to make them more efficient, but they could reap what I would argue are vastly greater rewards, not only in terms of productivity but in terms of employee wellness, if they just changed the way they work today. Jason and I unpacked many lessons on productivity from his book, including:Why is everybody ‘so, so busy’?Why more people doesn’t mean faster or better outcomes; andA handful of simple changes that you can make today to radically increase your productivity and enjoyment of work and life Topics Discussed:Why being busy has become a badge of honourThe dangers of not getting enough sleepThe peril of managers and meetingsBrook’s LawWhy 80 hour work weeks aren’t spent actually workingFacilitating outcomes with a remotely distributed teamJason’s notion of a ‘calm company’Why Basecamp has rejected hundreds of offers from venture capitalists and investorsWhy raising capital shouldn’t be conflated with success for startupsSetting realistic deadlinesSo-called perks that are designed to keep people in the officeHow to defend your timeCommitment, not consensusUsing work as an excuse not to liveOvercollaboration in the workplaceOutsourcing accountability and blameHow to say noJason’s rituals and routines Show Notes:Basecamp.com (project and team communications software)Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-Work/dp/0062874780Twitter: @jasonfriedMedium: @jasonfriedJason’s TED Talk:  https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work?language=en --- Employee to Entrepreneur podcast on Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/employeetoentrepreneurpodcast  Listen to Future Squared on Apple Podcasts @ goo.gl/sMnEa0  Also available on: Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher and Soundcloud  Twitter: www.twitter.com/steveglaveski  Instagram: www.instagram.com/@thesteveglaveski  Future Squared: www.futuresquared.xyz  Steve Glaveski: www.steveglaveski.com  Medium: www.medium.com/@steveglaveski  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.