Summer Reading Book Series 2010

Summer Reading: Kevin Pereira

Marketplace Staff Jul 2, 2010

Summer Reading Book Series 2010

Summer Reading: Kevin Pereira

Marketplace Staff Jul 2, 2010

TEXT OF STORY

Tess Vigeland: Business management is both an art and a science. Some follow the rule book to the letter. Others throw it out the window.

Today contributor, Kevin Pereira wraps up our summer book series with his nomination, a guide on how to run your company that firmly belongs in the latter camp.

Kevin Pereira: When it comes to business management, everything you know is wrong. But you knew that already, right? Well thankfully, there’s a book that can help.

It’s “Rework” from 37signals, a software company that churns out wildly successful web applications. Its project management system is used by Adidas, National Geographic and Warner Bros, just to name a few.

“Rework” is a refreshingly honest guide to everything from hiring practices to creating corporate culture. Think of it as “Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul.”

The “Rework” gospel includes the following advice:

Scrap meetings. Ten people in a one-hour meeting is actually 10 wasted hours, not one.

Spread your work force across continents. Quality work performed in another country is still quality work, and likely cheaper.

Failure is not a prerequisite for success. The only thing you learn from a mistake is that you made one. So, focus on what works and you’ll know what to do next.

Apologize earnestly and openly. If you screw up, own up — and the forgiveness and respect will follow.

Oh, and everyone leaves at five. Really. The guys who are burning the midnight oil are only clouding up the office with thick plumes of mismanaged time.

Now, these aren’t the cocktail napkin scrawlings of a jaded cubicle-dweller, these are the genuine best-practices of a transparent company turning serious profit.

This streamlined read challenges the myth that because something has been done a certain way for ages that it must be the right or only way to do it. So whether you’re perched comfortably atop the corporate ladder or squirming in the soil at the bottom of the totem pole, “Rework” will simultaneously inspire, and entertain you.

Vigeland: Kevin Pereira co-hosts G4’s “Attack of the Show.” We’re continuing the series all summer long on our website. Visit Marketplace.org to read all the recommendations and reviews and post your own.

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