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it's a great question to ask. Lots of great takeaways to be had from their culture, and many would do well to try and adopt some of them. But what i've observed is there is a tendency to rationalize away much of what basecamp advocates. Sure, it SOUNDS smart and good, but who needs frameworks really? "Rails is overkill" Or work/life balance? "it's about the hustle" or job satisfaction? "we're changing the world of ___". Basecamp is championed because at every decision, a reflection is made on the impact it has on the workers. That's why they created ruby on rails and why it is the most productive and enjoyable to use. That's why they hire remote and build a tool that helps remote workers. That's why they have sane project schedules, sane work schedules, and give back where they can. They are a creator focused organization, and optimize for creativity and focus. Most companies do not make such optimizations for their workforce. They have their own specific vision, their own timetable, and their own checkboxes to hit: staffing numbers, tech stack choices, retention numbers, sales goals, etc. To them, workers are more cog-like and treated as such. There's also often venture funding involved - which creates specific pressures that basecamp is specifically free from. TLDR: It takes a degree of humility, stubbornness, charity, empathy and perspective to do the things basecamp does for the reasons basecamp does it; that most do not posses or have interest in. But we would do well to raise these as standards and expectations; the demand for real leadership of a company. |