Principles of Communication

Explicit content warning

10/23/24 • 27 min

2 Listeners

37signals’ co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson share insights from their write-up, The 37signals Guide to Internal Communication. They discuss effective communication strategies within the company and with the public, offering practical advice to consider when conveying messages.

Key Takeaways:

00:41 - The backstory of how the guide was created
02:39 - The write up serves as both an internal reminder and a practical manual for how communication is handled at 37signals
06:36 - Why publishing doesn’t require perfection
10:52 - Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings
18:26 - How unclear communication can come across negatively
23:03 - Why you shouldn't rush tough conversations

Links and Resources:

The 37signals Guide to Internal Communication
Books by 37signals
Sign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.com
HEY World | HEY
The REWORK podcast
The Rework Podcast on YouTube
The 37signals Dev Blog
37signals on YouTube
@37signals on X

Key Takeaways:

00:41 - The backstory of how the guide was created
02:39 - The write up serves as both an internal reminder and a practical manual for how communication is handled at 37signals
06:36 - Why publishing doesn’t require perfection
10:52 - Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings
18:26 - How unclear communication can come across negatively
23:03 - Why you shouldn't rush tough conversations

Links and Resources:

Previous Episode

Say No by Default

In their book REWORK, 37signals’ co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write about the power of saying no. This week on the podcast, they revisit that idea, diving into the hidden costs of saying yes and the burden of commitments that often come with it. They also discuss how saying no preserves simplicity and helps maintain focus.
Key Takeaways:

00:45 – Saying yes often comes with regret
03:00 – Yes feels good until it’s time to fulfill the commitment
07:58 – Adding features to products often results in layered complications
14:53 – Saying no is more difficult when you have the capacity to say yes
19:51 – The courage to say no creates space for simplicity
29:30 – The best way to say to no to customer requests

Links and Resources:

Books by 37signals

HEY World | HEY

The REWORK podcast

The Rework Podcast on YouTube

The 37signals Dev Blog

37signals on YouTube

@37signals on X

Next Episode

V1 is for Us

In this week's episode of The REWORK Podcast, 37signals’ co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson share their approach to product design, explaining why the first version of a product (V1) is always built for the company's internal use case. They discuss responding to user feedback and the importance of actively using their own products to uncover issues. They also dive into the challenges they've faced when building software for someone else's needs vs. their own.

Key Takeaways:

00:35 - The problem with imagined use cases
07:21 - A trimmed down V1 gives you permission to focus on what's most important
10:28 - The story of Highrise
17:27 - “Dogfooding” to help identify and address product issues
20:48 - Avoid the temptation to react too quickly to early customer feedback
23:11 - Design breakthroughs come to life by creating innovative solutions

Links and Resources:

Version 1 is for you – Jason Fried's HEY World post
Books by 37signals
Sign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.com\
HEY World | HEY
The REWORK podcast
The Rework Podcast on YouTube
The 37signals Dev Blog
37signals on YouTube
@37signals on X

REWORK - Principles of Communication

Transcript

Kimberly (00:00):
Welcome to Rework, a podcast by 37signals about the better way to work and run your business. I’m your host, Kimberly Rhodes, and I’m joined as always by the co-founders of 37signals, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. On the 37signals website, there is a writeup called the 37signals Guide to Internal Communication. There are 30 different points of how we aim to communicate both internally and with the public. And so today I thought we would talk a little bit ab