Believe me, middle managers in big businesses never dream about being more agile or flexible. They all dream about the empire they will build. That is in their DNA.
This is not DNA. This is kind of inertia, following the herd. They do what they believe their organisation believes in. When people see that there are too many beliefs in it, they can strive for something simpler and more useful.
"Say No by default"
Yes!
That's the most useful single meme from the article :)
I for one say 37signals is one of most inspiring companies at the moment, for me at least.
What they are doing is amazing, they were able to gain profit without almost none marketing or funding. simple because they have contacted the right people and because their product simple works. Now, i'm not a fan of basecamp or any of their apps, but the fact is, this guys make you believe that you can get a profitable company without any VC funding or making millions a year.
I wouldn't say they have no marketing. The Signal vs Noise blog, Ruby on Rails, and their books are very effective marketing tools. That being said, the quality of their products does seem to play a large role as well.
Instead of reading this article that summarizes the REWORK book, I suggest actually reading the book. (I read it twice, it is quite good.)
37Signals compare themselves to "Harvard or Oxford". Never cease to amaze me :)