Last week a couple of friends descended on the latest of geekdinner's events. Speaking at the event was Ryan Carson of Carsonified.com, the guys behind FOWA, FOWD and a few other rather good things.
I thought i'd post something up about what was said that evening, as these points from Ryan which were mirrored in the ethos of his colleagues, really struck home as a refreshing, maybe slightly idealistic, but nonetheless worthwhile principles to strive towards as a work ethic or indeed for life in general to a greater or lesser extent.
1) Work smarter - At Carsonified, they work a 4 day week. They make a big point of this but for the right reasons. Ryan states that it's "not about working less or just trying to be 'rad' but when you only have 4 days, you make sure you get it done in that time". This is something i'm sure you'd notice thinking about it. When you have 5 days to complete something, it'll take 5 days. when you have 3, it'll take 3. There are obviously times when you would undermine the outcome doing this but it does make sense.
2) A company's software... - is reflective of communication within the company. Look at the suite of tools from 37signals. They look like each other. They work well together. Hell, they work! I shall resist temptation to name others, there are plenty of companies where this is not the case, and it really does show. You wanna build good software? Make sure your people talk. Lots.
3) Do what you want - as knowledge workers we are fortunate enough to work in an industry sufficiently genericised such that it makes your skills largely transferrable. If you don't like what you're doing, change it. Simply put, you will do better work doing what you love, than idling doing what you don't.
Just a few nuggets of wisdom. Now... back to work. As you were.
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