This is a preview of the Shortform book summary of It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried.
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In today’s “hustle culture,” we imagine the most successful worker as someone who lives at the office, works nights and weekends, and attacks their job with a frantic intensity. In their attempts to embody this ideal, employees, managers, and entrepreneurs end up ruining their lives, trying to get ahead in their careers by sacrificing the time and energy they should be spending on their lives outside of work.

Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson argue that this mindset is not only a recipe for an unsatisfying life, but it’s also ineffective. Most people spending their entire lives in a frenzy at work aren’t getting more work done—they’re burning themselves out with inefficient business practices.

In It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work, Fried and Hansson contend that companies should establish more reasonable, sustainable goals and business practices that put employees first. In doing so, **companies can make their employees’ work lives relaxing and...

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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work Summary Pursue Stable Success, Not Growth

Fried and Hansson contend that many organizations perpetuate the unhealthy ideals of “hustle culture” through specific management strategies: Namely, they set aggressive quarterly growth targets to push their employees to do their best work. However, such uncompromising, growth-oriented goals needlessly create an unhealthy work environment that degrades employees’ quality of life.

To explain why, we’ll outline some of the downsides of aggressive organizational growth. Then, we’ll cover some of the benefits of the alternative strategy: aiming for stable, consistent success.

The Downsides of Incessant Growth

Downside #1: Growth Targets Are Demoralizing

First, Fried and Hansson say that growth targets demoralize employees by constantly moving the goalposts of what constitutes well-done work. As soon as the company achieves one arbitrary goal, it starts working toward the next one. This means that no matter how hard they work, employees can never feel relaxed or satisfied because there are always new targets requiring them to do better.

(Shortform note: Arguably, the problem with constantly rising goals for your employees isn’t unreachable expectations, but...

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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work Summary Give Your Employees Private Time

We’ve discussed Fried and Hansson’s belief that companies can create relaxed, healthy work environments by aiming for stable success rather than unlimited growth. However, this doesn’t mean compromising on the quality of their work. A more relaxed workplace can actually be more productive than a frenzied one, as long as you give employees private time to work without being distracted.

The more time someone has to work on a single task without being interrupted, the more they can get done within that time. Even a single brief interruption can fragment someone’s attention and drastically reduce their productivity. For this reason, Fried and Hansson structure their organization to give their employees as much uninterrupted private work time as possible.

(Shortform note: In Deep Work, Cal Newport agrees that people are most productive during uninterrupted private time—what he calls “deep work.” Even if you don’t have an organization to manage, awareness of the value of deep work can help you maximize your productivity. To carve out deep work time, Newport recommends adopting [one of four work...

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It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work Summary Maintain an Effective Team

We’ll end this guide with a discussion of Fried and Hansson’s perspective that treating your employees as a long-term investment makes your organization a more effective and satisfying place to work. Let’s discuss two of their tips on how to invest in a productive team.

Tip #1: Don’t Hunt for Talented Employees—Create Them

Most companies get skilled employees by identifying the most talented workers in their industry and trying to steal them away from whatever company they’re currently working for. However, transplanting successful employees from other companies can end in disaster if the new recruits struggle to adjust to your organization. Fried and Hansson argue that the more reliable strategy is to hire employees who show promise and help them reach their full potential.

(Shortform note: Some experts argue that training employees rather than poaching them from other companies doesn’t just result in better work. This approach also makes it more difficult for other companies to poach employees from you. Training employees to flourish at work is an act of support, and it leads people to...

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Shortform Exercise: Consider How to Make Your Workplace More Stable

After reading Fried and Hansson’s advice, consider how you can make the workplace you’re managing more relaxed and productive.


What growth targets, if any, is your organization currently aiming for? (For example, perhaps you work at a design firm that’s trying to increase its client base by 15% every quarter.)

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