Here’s an interesting spin on a book report…

I read the business book REWORK, wrote a 1,700+ word review of it, but then decided to change things up a bit by recording a REWORK book review in high quality audio.

Many who read REWORK boast the collection of short essays will change the way you work, forever.

It was the subtle insight taken from reading REWORK that was so inspiring for me.  Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the guys behind 37signals (now Basecamp) business fame, have a tremendous amount of practical experience, insight that I like to call “right around the corner knowledge“.

There is some really thoughtful knowledge out there that, for some, can be taken for granted, it’s just out of the reach of those who have not had the experience themselves, and thus, just right around the corner.  Fried and Hansson do a great job in taking you by the hand and giving you a guided tour of the windy roads of the entrepreneurial business realm.

In my book review, I talk about the concept of receiving the gift of entrepreneurial permission from Fried and Hansson – as an entrepreneur, it’s easy to shoulder the burden of trying to live up to big corporate norms and processes, while Fried and Hansson, business leaders who have been there done that, just cut through it all and assure you the reasonable approach can indeed work, and not just work, but become wildly successful.

As an example, one of my favorite subtle insights from REWORK is on corporate growth, and exactly how much growth is enough. In my audio review of REWORK, I share that I’ve mentally wrestled with the concept of corporate growth for most of my adult life, which more than likely stems from attempting to balance the entrepreneur inside me and my appreciation for organic growth and scale in business, and separately, my appreciation for the intricacies of successfully navigating and driving results at Fortune 100 companies (most notably for me, IBM, where I spent approximately 15 years of my full-time corporate career).

Fried and Hansson practically hit you upside the head on page 22 of REWORK with an essay called “Why grow?” that has one of the most articulately composed analogies that will undoubtedly make you look at growth, and the extent to which it is pursued unnaturally, like you never have before.

Have you ever felt awkward leaving work at 5pm?

If you’ve got any sort of hustle in you, no doubt, you have indeed felt awkward at some point cutting out “early”.

Shocker, REWORK addresses the topic, and probably in a much different way than you would think, especially considering we’re talking about authors who are entrepreneurs easily generating 8 figures in recurring annual revenue (Fried doesn’t seem to care about valuations, yet, doesn’t that perfectly align with the general sentiment you take away from REWORK – but, what if it’s a $100 billion valuation?!?).

I highlighted a number of really solid insights in REWORK that I look forward to returning to in the coming years, be that for inspiration, the entrepreneurial permission I was talking about, or, simply a level set on what’s reasonable in trying to grow and scale a business.