Book Review: Remote

Published on November 23, 2015

Originally posted on Medium:

Remote — Office Not Required — is a book produced by 37signals, the guys who made Basecamp.

I enjoyed Remote very much because it debunks traditional office work (commuting, working from 8am-5pm), and is close to what I believe should be our modern working lifestyle.

It is even more relevant for creative based jobs, such as for us developers, since our output should not be measured by the hours of work.

Why Remote?

  • Creative work takes stretches of uninterrupted time to get into the zone
  • Real work gets done not at work
  • Your commute is killing you
  • Decentralize the city
  • A new luxury to work wherever you want
  • Talent isn’t bound by the hubs
  • You’re probably already doing it. If you outsource your legal/accounting/audit/advertising/etc, then in a way, they are your remote workers. So why not extend to your workers?

Dealing with Excuses

  • To successfully work with others, you need to trust each other. You need to trust people to get their work done, wherever they are, without supervision. Either learn to trust, or find other people to work with.
  • Homes are full of distraction. The counter to distraction is interesting, fulfilling work.
  • The only reliable way to muster motivation is to encourage people to work on the stuff they like and care about, and with the people they like and care about.
  • Equal regular hours for all? False equality benefits nobody.
  • Suffer in unity is stupid. You’re all in the game to find the best way to work.