This is the title of a new book written by Jason Fried (CEO of project management tool Basecamp) and David Heinemeier Hansson (developer at Basecamp). The book’s main message is that you don’t have to be slave driver to create a successful business. Requiring employees to work insane hours is counterproductive as “creativity, progress
and impact do not yield to brute force”.
What are the rules at Basecamp? Employees have a 40-hour week, except in the summer when the company runs a four-day, 32-hour week. That’s insanely awesome, especially for a company based in the US, where employees can be happy if they get 10 vacation days.
Why are we telling you about Basecamp? We don’t want you to get your CV ready so you can apply for a job there. Though the work-life balance does sound pretty amazing.
Aside from criticising long work days, the authors also don’t seem to be fans of open-plan offices. That is because they are particularly bad at providing an environment for calm, creative work. Therefore, Basecamp imposes “library rules” meaning you should speak quietly as if you were in a library or at Sunday mass.
Do you also want to have library noise levels in your business? Getting a couple of our office phone booths will surely help. Go check them out now!
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