Rework Contest and Survey
Two things happened to me almost simultaneously a few weeks ago: I had a really interesting idea for a new type of job search website, and I began reading a fantastic book about starting a business and being creative. The book is called Rework, by 37Signals CEO Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, and I have to say, there isn’t a better book out there when you’re excited about a business idea (or if you’re already an entrepreneur).
It’s the kind of book that is easy to read but is so dense that almost every other line is quotable. Here are a few of my favorite lines from the first 50 pages of the book:
- “Why is expansion always the goal? What’s the attraction of big besides ego?” I’ve always wondered this. I read about a new startup boasting of its staff of 50 employees (and growing), and I wonder, why am I supposed to be impressed by the size of you staff? Shouldn’t I be more impressed if you can be just as successful with fewer people?
- “Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.”
- “A strong stand is how you attract superfans. And they spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising could.”
- “Lots of things get better as they get shorter. Directors cut scenes to make a great movie. Musicians drop good tracks to make a great album.” Fried even exemplified this point by sharing that he cut the length of Rework from 57,000 words to a lean, hard-hitting 27,000.
I’m done with the book, and I’d love to share it with you. But I’m hoping you can help me out as well. I’d like to ask you to take a short, 3-minute survey about your work self. These are fun questions (all multiple choice) like what your desk looks like and how you make decisions about buying a car.
I’m hoping to collect a critical mass of data that at the very least will reveal some interesting things about the roles in which we’re most successful at work. At the very most, it will help me launch a new job search algorithm that could potentially aid a lot of people.
If you fill out the survey or if you refer the survey to someone who takes it before Sunday, August 29, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win my copy of Rework. I’ll even sign it for you (“Jamey read this!”) Thanks so much for your help.
Daily Quickie: Speaking of acting on amazing ideas, my friend’s food truck restaurant website just launched. It’s based in Austin. Check out The Peached Tortilla here. Very slick, if you ask me.
Can’t wait for the survey. It is so cool how your mind just keeps working like this. Makes the blog that much more awesome too.
Thanks so much! The real survey has launched
Just took it. Are you going to do a follow up with question explanations? Some of them were very unexpected but interesting to be used for a job search. Thanks!
I’m all for challenging norms, but we have to give creedence to where the norms come from.
Expansion is a goal because it means that financially, your service has been successful enough to warrant that kind of support. It’s part of Capitalism. If my idea is good people will use it, and my company will survive. If it is really good they (your superfans, who BTW can also be viewed as cultists) will tell more people, who will create increase demand for your product/service. I can’t think of a secnario where increased demand can be supported without an increase in resources. If expansion is not a goal, and demand becomes high, you hit exclusivity instead (ie. the shows at the theatre are always good, so it sells out of tickets quickly, or you can’t get a table at the new restaurant because they’re booked solid for weeks).
Sidenote: Your casual Friday question asks if you’d wear jeans and a dress shirt , or sPorts and t-shirt. I think you meant sHorts.
I hear you. Increase in demand should lead to an increase in resources. However, do you always need new employees? Do you always need a bigger office? I think bigger done intelligently can be better. But bigger isn’t better just for the sake of being bigger.
Thanks for noticing the typo–I updated it.
Amazing post.
I have a follow up request for this post. Unlike a common blog poll, there’s no gratifying moment at the end of the survey when you get to compare your answers to the rest of the critical mass…you just submit and are left wondering. Do you plan to share the results with those people who completed the survey? If you hadn’t planned to, will you, now that I’ve asked for that? You could even do it via follow up blog post, and just post the cumulative results so we can compare ourselves with others.
Trev and JMJKDulce: Sorry, I should have made this survey in Qualtrics so you could see how your answers compare to everyone else. I will, however, share the data when the survey is over.
[...] want to thank everyone who took my crazy little survey last week. 47 people filled it out, and the 23rd person (you know who you are) was randomly [...]