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Rework Your Strategy: Insights and Lessons based on “Rework” written by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

I hope you’re doing great and that the summer COVID wave has happily avoided you. I wasn’t so lucky, though. Between coughing and sneezing, I considered returning to some books I read years ago to see if my years of experience have shifted my perspectives.

I started with “Rework,” a book written by Jason Fried (JF) and David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH). Why? I’ve always appreciated their teamwork, their companies (previously Basecamp, now 37signals), and their other books like “Remote,” “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work,” and the “Shape Up” product development method. Their content and company communication are always smart, strict, sometimes funny, and super user-friendly. No bullshit, no cheap manipulations. They describe their experiences in terms of creating software, organizational management, culture, and product development as it is — as if your intelligent and self-reflective friend were talking to you in a bar. No filters.

The longer I’ve been a marketing manager, the more these theses resonate with my experiences. I wanted to share my comments on a few crucial points, supplemented with more data and research. You can find the list of resources at the end of the newsletter.

Strategies and Plans

• Only 37% of companies successfully implement their long-term strategic plans (Harvard Business Review).
• 46% of business projects fail due to a lack of clearly defined goals (Project Management Institute).
• Companies with smaller teams have a 22% higher adaptability rate (Deloitte).

In "Rework," it's noted that long-term planning often fails because predicting the future is challenging. Companies create extensive strategic documents that frequently remain on paper instead of translating into tangible actions. A better approach is breaking down larger goals into smaller tasks and projects that can be regularly updated and adjusted to current conditions. It's crucial always to ask why we're doing something.

If we planned something a few months ago, it’s worth verifying actions rather than blindly following a set roadmap. In a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) environment, it’s necessary to outpace the competition. Due to their lengthy decision-making processes, corporations typically follow long-term plans and find it hard to pivot — like large ships on the sea struggling to avoid icebergs compared to smaller vessels.

When I started in marketing 10 years ago, planning several years ahead was standard in agencies — the market seemed more predictable (or so we thought). Today, strategic assumptions should indicate a direction, a North Star, but the roadmap or specific projects and tasks should be precise enough to facilitate daily work. However, the team should be agile enough to learn quickly, make mistakes, and swiftly correct the course.

Hence, I’m not a fan of extensive strategic documents. The more theoretical and detailed the files attempt to cover every aspect, the longer it takes to verify hypotheses. With experience, I increasingly create tailored strategies that meet the organization’s needs, assuming we need ENOUGH data to start but not ALL possible data. Identifying which strategy elements we can expand on during implementation is essential.

This is related to the ROI theory concerning decision latency, as illustrated in the diagram below. In my experience, extending the decision-making process and delays cause greater losses than starting with something small, testing, and optimizing.

https://www.brcommunity.com/articles.php?id=b373

Even in a corporation, breaking projects into smaller teams can aid in agility. Clearly defined and enforced roles and responsibilities will help avoid bottlenecks.

Efficiency and Overwork

• Employees who work more than 55 hours a week have a 33% higher risk of stroke compared to those working 35–40 hours (American Journal of Industrial Medicine).
• Statistics show that well-rested employees are 31% more productive and 19% more engaged (McKinsey & Company).

JF and DHH state that overwork is not a sign of commitment but rather poor work organization. Studies show that overworked employees make worse decisions and are more prone to errors. They also suggest that focused work without distractions is vital to efficiency. Even a short, intense period of work can yield better results than long hours spent multitasking. Only a well-rested person can be genuinely creative and propose innovative solutions.

This isn’t groundbreaking, but as long as success is associated with working until you drop, constantly explaining that you don’t have time for:

• adequate sleep,
• healthy eating,
• rest,
• exercise,
• time with loved ones,

we will keep running in circles.

At the beginning of my career, I worked in what I called the “7–7 mode,” starting at 7 AM and leaving at 7 PM. I thought that’s what it took to succeed. I learned a lot during that time, but today, I know I was an ambitious young worker generating revenue for the organization at the cost of my mental and physical health. I worked less efficiently, made more mistakes, and rushed rather than focused on quality.

One Saturday evening, I told my mom over the phone that “tomorrow, on Sunday, I might finally have a day off” because I had worked all Saturday. When it hit me that I wasn’t developing or earning more through overwork (as overtime was unpaid), I decided to change the company and not let myself be exploited anymore.

Do I work less today? It depends, because I love my job and am lucky enough to call it a hobby. However, a well-rested mind definitely gives me more time for reading, testing, and generating better ideas. When healthy and rested, we can accomplish in an hour what might take five hours when tired or sick. That’s efficiency.

Meeting Culture and Optimization

• Statistics show that well-organized meetings can increase team productivity by 30% (Atlassian).
• Companies that regularly analyze their actions have a 25% higher operational efficiency rate (Forbes).

DHH and JF in "Rework" mention that meetings are an indispensable part of teamwork but often a waste of time. Key elements include preparing an agenda, using a timer, and inviting only essential participants. Regular reflection on one's work helps us better understand why we're doing something and what problems we're solving. Assessing whether our work is useful and valuable to the client helps us avoid wasting resources on imagined problems.

There have been countless articles on work organization and effective meeting culture, yet we still get invited to unlimited meetings to “discuss” things. Meetings should be a last resort or a place where decisions are made. Creative work, brainstorming, or presenting mechanisms can successfully happen asynchronously. We have virtual boards, shared drives, and files where we can collect more thoughtful feedback than ad hoc during a meeting.

Another issue is inviting too many people due to a lack of decision-making processes (inviting everyone interested) and needing to account for the cost of the meeting to the organization. Clear communication about who must prepare and who’s optional is essential.

Before scheduling a meeting, consider the best way to obtain the needed information, feedback, or comments. Rarely will it be a meeting.

On the other hand, implementing moments in the company’s lifecycle and within teams for retrospection and identifying what doesn’t work and how to improve it is crucial. It helps move from “We’ve always done it this way” to “How can we do it better?” This should be leadership’s main task — removing obstacles for employees to perform well and minimizing frustration over trivial matters.

Company Culture and Environment

• Companies with a solid organizational culture have a 72% higher employee retention rate (Gallup).
• Employees who feel treated maturely are 17% more engaged (Gallup).

JF and DHH state that company culture is a natural byproduct of consistent management and cannot be artificially created. The work environment significantly impacts work quality. Lack of strategy, management, and clear procedures leads to ambiguity in responsibility. Treating employees with respect and giving them responsibility results in better outcomes. Rules should address general problems, not individual behaviors. If one employee abused sick leave or didn't adhere to work hours, does that mean everyone should now be over-monitored, showing a lack of trust?

From my experience, organizations often thrive (as seen in revenues) not because they per se have well-defined goals, metrics, and control measures. They thrive because the organizational culture attracts A-players who value ownership, influence, and the ability to implement their ideas, aren’t bogged down by procedures, work flexibly, and work with others who help them grow and enjoy their time.

I’ve seen this many times — atmosphere and culture drive organizations to rapid growth. When culture deteriorates due to mobbing, bullying or irrational behaviors, valuable people leave, leading to revenue declines, and the solution seems to be structured goals and monitoring metrics, as if these tables would do the work. I don’t know any organization that transitioned from a carrot approach to a stick approach and benefited long-term.

I envision teams without rigid goals but with a clear direction, working agilely and achieving better results than those stressed by artificial goals. Mindset is more important.

Found it interesting? Do something about it.

It’s easy to understand the ideas from others’ experiences. The hardest part is changing our routines or behaviors. Reflecting on this text, whether you agree or not:

• What can you change about your next strategy creation and planning?
• What can you do about being overworked and exhausted? How do you plan to improve your sleep and health and find more space to relax?
• What can you do to plan your next meeting? Take 5 minutes to decide if this is the most effective way to achieve your goal. Who do you need for sure? Who’s optional?
• What can you do to achieve high morale in your team and organization?

Best,

Klaudia

Data sources:

• Harvard Business Review — “Why Strategy Execution Unravels — and What to Do About It”
• Project Management Institute — “Pulse of the Profession: Success Rates Rise”
• American Journal of Industrial Medicine — “Long Working Hours and Risk of Stroke”
• Occupational & Environmental Medicine — “Association between prolonged exposure to long working hours and stroke subtypes”
• McKinsey & Company — “Organizational health is (still) the key to long-term performance”
• Deloitte — “Global Human Capital Trends”
• Forbes “[Pareto Principle: How To Use It To Dramatically Grow Your Business](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2014/01/20/pareto-principle-how-to-use-it-to-dramatically-grow-your-business/#:~:text=For example%2C in general%2C 20,tool for growing your business.)**”**
• Atlassian — “The me in the team”
• Forbes — “Your To-Do List Isn’t Productive — Try This Time Management Hack In 2024**”**
• Harvard Business Review — “Act Fast, but Not Necessarily First”