In this interview, I talk with Jason Fried, co-author with David Heinemeier Hansson of Rework.

We spend most of the podcast talking about two big themes that I took away from the book. The first is that you have to get as close to the work as possible. Your estimates over the long term suck. Make tiny decisions. Long lists don’t get done. Good enough is fine.

The second idea is company as teacher. I wasn’t sure what the right word when we recorded. Channeling Kathy Sierra, they tell readers to out-teach the competition. They encourage companies to emulate chefs who write cookbooks and everyone exactly how to do what they do. This builds an audience.

Lots of things get better as they get shorter. Directors cut good scenes to make great movies. Musicians drop good tracks to make a great album. Writers eliminate good pages to make a book great. We cut this book in half between the next-to-last and final drafts. From 57,00 words to about 27,000 words. Trust us, it’s better for it.

Rework Interview with Jason Fried

Related:

19 Page Free Excerpt of Rework

The 37Signal Podcast about the Making of Rework

Getting Real – 37 Signals’ 2006 book about building better web applications