I’ve had the honor recently of being asked to moderate discussion of REWORK by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (of 37signals) on the Business Innovation Factory’s BIF Book Group. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, and as with other of their writings, take much of it to heart. They have taken a lot of time and effort to impart a lot of what they’ve learned over the years in a way that is easy to understand and apply to many more endeavors than just software.
A real key to their approach is avoiding complexity - both in look and usability but also in concept. Figure out what the real core is of what you are trying to accomplish and focus on doing just that and no more. Get that core bit solved, test it, live with it, and then see what feedback tells you - from users, clients, customers, friends. Then decide what to do next. Don’t assume you know everything before you’ve done anything. You’ll be wrong.
Rather than repeat more of the post here, go check out the rest on the BIF site, and chime in. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
UPDATE: Check out my video interview with Jason Fried following up on some of the discussion.