Rework

Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy are the co-authors of No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions At Work. They come on Rework to talk about how the future of work is emotional; why it's useful to listen to feelings like envy; and how we can all take small steps toward a healthier emotional life at work. (NB: It is totes okay to cry in the bathroom at the office!) Show Notes "Happy Pacifists," our episode about violent rhetoric (and its opposite) in business - 00:24 "Big Integer," our episode about how Basecamp managed a major outage - 00:30 "Spark Joy with DHH," our episode about applying Marie Kondo's tidying-up principles to business - 00:38 Liz Fosslien's website. Mollie West Duffy's website. Their joint website. - 1:22 No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions At Work - 1:28 IDEO - 1:54 Humu - 2:08 Gretchen Rubin - 12:09 The Shultz Hour, named after former Secretary of State George Shultz - 19:25 Liz and Mollie on Instagram - 35:42 The Book Table - 36:00 "Independent Women," the episode of our previous podcast about Women & Children First bookstore - 36:03

The folks at Basecamp have been blogging since 1999, when Jason Fried would write by the light of a fire fueled by David Heinemeier Hansson's savage indictments of the tech industry. A lot has changed since then (with the exception of DHH's feelings about Silicon Valley). Basecamp's blog, Signal v. Noise, changed platforms a few times. And it just moved again, this time from Medium to WordPress. In this episode, Jason and designer Adam Stoddard talk about leaving Medium for WordPress, the blog's new look, and keeping SvN fresh after all these years. Show Notes Signal v. Noise - 1:49 Episode 01, "Sell Your By-products" - 2:00 "Signal v. Noise moves to Medium" - 2:37 Jason Fried and Adam Stoddard - 2:48 Medium's changed policy on custom domains - 3:55 Medium's membership program - 6:10 A Vox article on how Tumblr's ban on adult content negatively affects the broader community - 7:30 History of WordPress - 9:55 A Quartz article on how WordPress employees work remotely - 10:03 Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress - 10:15 "Medium has been great for us" - 15:51 An Atlantic article about seasonally attired porch geese - 20:00

Basecamp co-founders David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried are fans of Marie Kondo's 2014 bestseller "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," which is back in the cultural zeitgeist thanks to her new Netflix show. In this bonus episode, DHH talks about how he's applied the KonMari framework to code, business decisions at Basecamp, and his own belongings. Show Notes Marie Kondo’s official website - 00:14 Marie Kondo's interpreter is Marie Iida and here's a Quartz interview with her - 00:28 Author Courtney Milan's Twitter thread on Marie Kondo's misunderstood advice about books - 00:49 Everything Wailin learned about arguing on social media she learned from DHH in the "Pick A Fight" episode of Rework - 1:00 The Life Changing-Magic of Tidying Up - 1:12 Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck - 6:42 The history of the We Work Remotely job board is written up in the last entry of this page of the Basecamp handbook - 9:06 Basecamp decided to sunset Highrise in 2018. Read Jason's note on the Highrise website - 9:32

Go behind the scenes of Basecamp 3's biggest outage.

We tried to record an episode, but there were more important things to talk about. See you in 2019 with more episodes of REWORK.

After yet another round of revelations about Facebook's use of customer data, Basecamp has decided to become 100% Facebook-free. We've actually been off Facebook proper for a while, but on Wednesday we decided to remove the company from Instagram and WhatsApp as well. This is a conversation with Basecamp's CTO, David Heinemeier Hansson, about making that decision and why he thinks you should follow in Basecamp's footsteps.

On the last episode of Rework, we talked about the dangers of using violent language in a business context. We've had to grapple with other kinds of problematic language at Basecamp as well. In this mini bonus episode, Shaun talks to programmer Jeremy Daer about shedding harmful terms for database relationships that persist in the industry.

Business rhetoric is rife with the language of war—there's constant talk of conquering markets and dominating the competition. These tropes indicate a dangerous way of thinking that can have real consequences, intended or not, on human behavior. In this episode, two professors share their research on the impact of violent rhetoric on business ethics, and a member of Basecamp's Support team talks about communication techniques that get us out of the mentality that everything is a zero-sum game. Show Notes The Brigham Young/Utah "Holy War" game is so famous it gets its own Wikipedia entry - 00:03 Steve Jobs' quote about going "thermonuclear" against Android was first revealed in Walter Isaacson's biography - 1:18 Joshua Gubler's website - 1:49 David Wood's website - 1:57 Joshua Gubler and David's research, conducted with Nathan Kalmoe of George Washington University, was published in the Journal of Business Ethics in September 2015 - 3:20 Planet Money did a story about The Art of War's popularity in business culture - 9:33 If you have anxiety about late-stage capitalism like Wailin does, you should read this article by Alexis Madrigal - 11:08 The Center for Nonviolent Communication - 13:07 Check out Elizabeth's previous appearance on Rework - 13:25

In October, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson released their new book, It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work. The book featured their writing, as well as cover art and interior illustrations from a couple designers at Basecamp. The launch initially seemed like a great success—but then things went awry. In this episode, we look at the work that went into the book and the problems with the release, and attempt to find some lessons in the aftermath. Show Notes Books by Basecamp - 00:18 Harper Business - 3:52 Adam Stoddard, Basecamp's marketing designer and the designer of the new book's cover - 4:01 Jason Zimdars, Basecamp designer and book illustrator - 5:26 Mike Rohde, the illustrator for Rework and Remote - 5:45 Charles Darwin on Daily Routines, a blog that became the book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, edited by Mason Currey. The book was an important reference for the illustrations. - 7:05 Jason Zimdars' Signal v. Noise post on how he illustrated the new book - 18:20 You can watch the entire pilot of Small Wonder on YouTube, or you can be like Shaun and staunchly refuse because you find the entire thing creepy, which is also fair. - 10:20 The Economist review of the book (you might hit a paywall) - 13:49 Blade Runner 2049 baseline test - 25:55 You can read David's write-up of the book launch debacle on Signal v. Noise.

Annual, semi-annual, quarterly, 360...no matter what form they take, performance reviews can be anxiety-inducing workplace rituals. In today's episode, we talk to the head of HR at an HR software company (meta!) and a Basecamp designer about why helpful feedback is so difficult to give and receive—and what can be done to improve the process. Show Notes Rachel Ernst, VP of employee success at Reflektive - 00:41 Reflektive’s #MyWorstPerformanceReview contest and the winners - 2:12 Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson’s classic screed against fundraising and startup culture - 7:00 Reflektive’s press release on its $60M Series C - 7:32 Watch a real-life design review with Conor and Basecamp CEO Jason Fried - 13:46 Hey, did you know we at Basecamp haaaaaaate meetings with the fire of a thousand suns? - 19:24 Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 3 (Pastoral), 4th Movement - 26:00

It’s time for another episode where Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson answer your questions! In this one, they discuss how to apply calm company principles to client work and classrooms, and talk about healthy ways for business partners to disagree. Show Notes Behold the wonder of raclette - 00:59 Looking for a calm company while job searching - 2:33 How a business that deals with clients can work more calmly - 4:24 The 37signals manifesto - 6:03 Applying calm principles in a school setting - 8:40 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say most schools start too early - 10:24 Alfie Kohn’s website. DHH recommends Punished by Rewards and The Myth of the Spoiled Child - 11:50 How to start a calm company when there’s limited runway - 13:51 Listen to our previous episode, “You Need Less Than You Think“ - 16:11 How Basecamp recovers from periods of non-calm - 19:05 Healthy ways for co-founders or partners to disagree - 22:56 J.P. Graziano, the Italian sub shop where Shaun buys lunch almost every day. We also featured the business on this episode of our previous podcast. - 28:19

Before the viral unicorn poop video, before the appearances on Shark Tank and Dr. Oz and Howard Stern—Bobby Edwards was showing his invention at conventions and sending it to alternative health bloggers in hopes of getting coverage. The invention? Squatty Potty, a plastic stool that puts you in a squatting position to poop better. Today Squatty Potty brings in over $30 million in annual revenue, but the quirky company's ascent to viral fame was far from assured. In today’s episode, CEO Bobby Edwards talks about the years of work that went into marketing the Squatty Potty before it got national attention. Show Notes Our previous episode - 0:11 It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - 0:19 Rework by Jason Fried and DHH - 0:37 The story of Squatty Potty - 1:13 This Unicorn Changed the Way I Poop, the original viral video - 1:28

This is the second of a two-part interview with David Heinemeier Hansson about his and Jason Fried's new book, It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work. In this episode, David talks about taking a calm approach to writing and marketing the book. Also, Wailin gets him to say #blessed (kind of) and has some anxiety about late-stage capitalism. We all get through it together! We’re taking your questions for David and Jason to answer in an upcoming mailbag episode! Leave us a voicemail at (708) 628-7850 and you'll be entered into a drawing for an autographed copy of It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work. Show Notes Listen to the first part of this interview - 0:23 Jason and David’s previous books are Rework and Remote - 3:37 Jason and David will be speaking at the Wall Street Journal's one-day Future of Work conference in New York on October 17 (check out their official WSJ stipple portraits!) - 6:50

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have a new book out called It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work, which pushes back against the toxic culture of overwork and unhealthy ambitions that’s driving much of the modern workplace. In this episode, Wailin sits down with David to talk about the book’s genesis, its intended audience, and the role of responsible software design in fostering calm work environments. We’re taking your questions for David and Jason to answer in an upcoming mailbag episode! Leave us a voicemail at (708) 628-7850 and you'll be entered into a drawing for an autographed copy of It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work. Show Notes It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work - 1:05 Jason and David’s previous books were Rework and Remote - 1:12 Check out our previous mailbag episodes, here, here, and here - 1:55 ”Marissa Mayer: You, Too, Can Work 130 Hours a Week If You Plan When to Take a Shit“ (GIzmodo) - 7:53 The quotation ”It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it“ is attributed to Upton Sinclair - 9:12 Basecamp’s policies on vacation time and summer hours can be found in the company handbook - 15:56 Work Can Wait - 19:57

A lot of businesses start as side ventures or hobbies that grow into full-time pursuits. The trick is often in knowing when to quit a comfortable day job to start a new business. We sit down with one of our own at this crossroads. Noah Lorang headed Basecamp's data team for the last eight years, and now he's the sole proprietor of a woodworking shop that makes topographical maps. In this episode, Noah talks about how he made his hobby into a viable business, what Basecamp taught him about entrepreneurship, and what he gets from carving wooden maps that he doesn't get from writing code. Thanks for all the camaraderie, data analysis, and puns, Noah! We'll miss you. Also, if you'd like to be Basecamp's new data analyst, check out the job listing! We're taking applications until October 12. Show Notes "Thanks, Basecamp, for the memories and the lessons" on Medium Noah Lorang on Twitter - 00:40 Noah's post on Reddit - 6:47 "Convert Geological Info into a Custom Map for 3D Printing and Milling" in Make: magazine - 7:23 Rick and Morty - 9:34 "Can it be 'art' if it's made with a robot's help?" on Medium - 24:45 Elevated Woodworking website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter - 28:24