REWORK

David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals, and Eron Nicholson, Director of Operations, discuss why 37signals is making the move away from the cloud.Show Notes:David's piece, Why We're Leaving the Cloud0:59 - 37signals history with on-premise and cloud storage8:26 - How cloud solutions don't necessary reduce operations teams costs10:58 - What types of companies are the best fit for cloud solutions14:14 - 37signals costs for cloud solutions and potential savings with on-premise options15:25 - Advantages of working with on-premise storage companies that are similar in size to 37signals20:08 - What the transition might look like, including timing26:02 - Advice for medium-sized companies that might be thinking about making the switchSign Up for 30-day FREE trial at Basecamp.com

You've been working on a thing for days, weeks, maybe months and you're still nowhere near finishing. Our natural instinct is to say, "I've already put this much time and energy into it, might as well finish." Well, most of the time this is wrong. You're not getting that time back either way and usually the better option is just to quit!

Building and maintaining momentum is one of the most underrated things you can do when building products. Keep moving forward by shipping work early and often. The longer something takes, the less likely it is you'll finish it. At 37signals, we work in six-week cycles, but even six weeks is a long time, so pepper in some easy, quick wins to keep that momentum going.Show Notes01:23 - The Six Week Cycle (Basecamp 3 Help)02:50 - Jason Zimdars06:57 - Sean Mitchell06:59 - 37signals.com07:12 - basecamp.com10:18 - There's no speed limit - Derek Sivers12:28 - Goldilocks Zone (NASA)18:14 - Setting the appetite (Shape Up)

At 37signals, we tend to solve problems by finding a "judo solution." The simplest, easiest, cheapest solution that gets you 90% of the way there. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be great. It just has to be good enough. Part of this is reframing and simplifying the problem itself. And, remember, you can always turn "good enough" into "great" later.Show Notes03:57 - Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is - Donald C. Gause, Gerald M. Weinberg (Amazon)05:26 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)08:47 - Team and project sizes (Shape Up)09:31 - Principles of Shaping (Shape Up)10:40 - Fat marker sketches (Shape Up)11:32 - Just set it aside (HEY)13:29 - Agile software development (Wikipedia)15:56 - Kanban (Wikipedia)20:34 - Shape Up

Meetings are the worst type of interruption. A one-hour meeting with five people is actually five hours of productivity lost. They're also horrible at conveying information. So, why do so many companies jump to meetings as the first option. Next time try writing something up, jumping on a a one-on-one call, or just skip the whole thing altogether!Show Notes00:37 - Why work doesn't happen at work - Jason Fried (TED)10:56 - Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World - Cal Newport (Bookshop.org)17:19 - Multi-core processor (Wikipedia)20:53 - Apple's spaceship HQ valued as one of the world's most expensive buildings (The Guardian)21:09 - Free Fortnite (Epic Games)21:28 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)21:29 - Work is like a hill (Shape Up)22:53 - Successful projects begin with a great kickoff message (Basecamp)22:53 - What's in a Heartbeat? - Jason Fried (HEY World)

A close look at how we develop features at 37signals. Designer Michelle Harjani walks Shaun through the entire process of making the Bubble Up Feature in HEY.Show Notes00:42 - Michelle Harjani (Twitter)00:59 - Bubble Up01:28 - Six-week cycles (Shape Up)01:38 - Set Aside02:56 - Team and project sizes (Shape Up)03:26 - Cool-down (Shape Up)05:04 - Fat marker sketches (Shape Up)05:32 - The Betting Table (Shape Up)

Having a calendar peppered with meetings or other commitments is horrible for productivity. Most people need at least a few hours or even days of completely uninterrupted alone time in order to do their best work. On this episode Jason and David give some strategies for creating the empty space you need to be productive.Show Notes14:56 - Slack16:25 - Automatic Check-ins: Keep everyone in the know (Basecamp)

Are you doing work that matters or are you just doing what you think you should be doing? Sinking too much time into something that you should have quit working on weeks ago is an easy trap to fall into. Avoid it by asking yourself some simple questions:Why are you doing this?What problem are you solving?Is this actually useful?Are you adding value?Will this change behavior?Is there an easier way?What could you be doing instead?Is it really worth it?Show Notes01:57 - Why are we likely to continue with an investment even if it would be rational to give it up? (The Decision Lab)03:29 - Scope hammering (Shape Up)10:01 - Live preview of "My Side" (@jasonfried on Twitter)16:52 - Getting Real

Simply describing your pitch can cause the illusion of agreement. Everyone may have a completely different idea of what you're talking about. Try sketching it out, hum the melody you want to create, or, better yet, start building the thing. Removing these levels of abstraction ensures everyone is on the same page.Show Notes00:34 - Getting Real02:31 - Agile software development (Wikipedia)05:07 - Bubble Up09:45 - Shaping the work (Shape Up)13:46 - NEW: Refined Home Screen, Participation Types, and More16:40 - Kanban (Wikipedia)

If you had to launch your thing in just two weeks what would you cut out? Put off anything you don't absolutely need for launch. You can always build that stuff later when you have more information. It's best to just get it out there!Show Notes05:06 - The Screener07:22 - HEY World