I read the book Rework many months ago. I recently revisited the book. Here are 10 points from the book I found very interesting to ponder upon:

  1. Quick Wins are great because momentum creates motivation.

  2. Go To Sleep: Missing out on Sleep leads to Stubbornness, Irritability, Lack of Creativity and Diminished Morale. It’s worth it to sleep better.

  3. Ignore Details Early On: Details are important, but getting involved in them early on get you lost in an endless loop. Nail the basics.

  4. Less Mass: When you are small, it’s easy to move fast. Take the advantage of being fast when you are small.

  5. Decommoditize your Product: If you are a part of your product, they can copy your product, but not the you in your product.

  6. Show, don’t tell: Showing what you are does more than telling what you are. Waiting on a customer care call and listening to “We care about your call” doesn’t change anything (Speed changes everything).

  7. Scratch your own itch: When making something for others, make something that you would actually use.

  8. Focus on Substance: Most people focus on outer looks rather than substance. Outer looks fade, substance remains. Businesses focus on the next big thing, which might as well be cosmetic. The next big thing will get replaced by the next big thing, but the substance in the product is what leads to demand in the long-term. (This point could, in a way, be used derive the entire book)

  9. Launch Now: You will keep perfecting your product forever, because perfect is an ever changing target. Once the basics work, launch.

  10. Know when to Quit: Sometimes it’s easier to go on than to quit. Sometimes quitting is what you need to do. If you don’t have a strong purpose behind what you are doing, if you aren’t solving a real problem, if you aren’t adding value, if it’s not worth it etc., it might be better to Quit than to keep going on. Fighting on helps you in many places, but sometimes knowing when to quit is more important. In an attempt to get what we want, we might end up losing what we have.

These points might nudge you to read Rework. If you don’t like reading books, Rework is the book for you. Chapters as long as 1 page, or less. A new idea per page. The book is clearly focussing on its substance.

Hope you enjoyed!

- yash mouje.