The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work-Wow! eBook

The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work book cover

The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work

Author(s): Scott Berkun (Author)

Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Publication Date: 10 Sept. 2013
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 9781118660638
ISBN-13: 9781118660638

Book Description

A behind-the-scenes look at the firm behind WordPress.com and the unique work culture that contributes to its phenomenal success

50 million websites, or twenty percent of the entire web, use WordPress software. The force behind WordPress.com is a convention-defying company called Automattic, Inc., whose 120 employees work from anywhere in the world they wish, barely use email, and launch improvements to their products dozens of times a day. With a fraction of the resources of Google, Amazon, or Facebook, they have a similar impact on the future of the Internet. How is this possible? What’s different about how they work, and what can other companies learn from their methods?

To find out, former Microsoft veteran Scott Berkun worked as a manager at WordPress.com, leading a team of young programmers developing new ideas. The Year Without Pants shares the secrets of WordPress.com’s phenomenal success from the inside. Berkun’s story reveals insights on creativity, productivity, and leadership from the kind of workplace that might be in everyone’s future.

Offers a fast-paced and entertaining insider’s account of how an amazing, powerful organization achieves impressive results

Includes vital lessons about work culture and managing creativity

Written by author and popular blogger Scott Berkun (scottberkun.com)

The Year Without Pants shares what every organization can learn from the world-changing ideas for the future of work at the heart of Automattic’s success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sometimes you find a book which you simply can’t not read. The Year Without Pants was one of them. (The BookBag, October 2013) Those looking for observations about the changing nature of the workplace won t be disappointed, but equally this is far from being just a passionless futurist text; Berkun infuses the whole book with real humour and gives an excellent personal account of the inner working of one of the world s most unorthodox enterprises. (Elite Business, November 2013) “Well worth a look” (Mob 76 Outlook, November 2013) the book is gripping. (Loyalty Magazine, January 2014) the fact that this book has a genuine story and a timeframe makes for a good pace and a good read. (B2B Marketing, April 2014) there are lots of lessons about how to make good decisions and get along with others in the workplace. (Able Magazine, June 2014) offers sage advice for managers looking to overhaul their corporate culture. (Communication Director, June 2014) ..it s without a doubt, one of my favourite, most useful and enjoyable reads of all time. (What Goes Around, July 2014)

From the Inside Flap

What happens when an old-school management guru leaves the books and lectures behind to lead a young team at a revolutionary company, with no email, no offices, and no rules? The answer is an amazing and entertaining book about the future of work.

Automattic, Inc., runs WordPress.com, the 15th most popular website on the planet, and is the leading organization behind WordPress, the software that powers 20 percent of the entire web—60 million sites and counting. Their success is based on challenging our biggest assumptions about how work is done:

Employees work remotely, from wherever in the world they wish

No one uses email, preferring customized blogs and online chat

There are no schedules, few meetings, and fewer rules

Workers launch new ideas and features dozens of times a day

In The Year Without Pants, popular author and former Microsoft manager (’94-’03) Scott Berkun reports on his challenging year working at WordPress.com as the leader of one of its most important teams. His bold and entertaining tale is filled with great advice for managers, executives, and employees alike about how great work is done and what Automattic’s success means for the rest of us.

With his legendary humour and the unique perspective of a seasoned outsider-turned-insider, The Year Without Pants is the best book you will read on the ways leadership, productivity, and work are evolving on business’s brave new frontier.

From the Back Cover

“The Year Without Pants is one the most original and important books about what work is really like, and what it takes to do it well, that has ever been written.”
-Robert Sutton, professor, Stanford University, and author, New York Times bestsellers The No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss

“The underlying concept—an ‘expert’ putting himself on the line as an employee— is just fantastic. And then the book gets better from there! I wish I had the balls to do this.”
-Guy Kawasaki, author, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, and former chief evangelist, Apple

“If you want to think differently about entrepreneurship, management, or life in general, read this book.”
-Tim Ferriss, author, New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek

“With humor and heart, Scott has written a letter from the future about a new kind of workplace that wasn’t possible before the internet. His insights will make you laugh, think, and ask all the right questions about your own company’s culture.”
-Gina Trapani, founding editor, Lifehacker

“The future of work is distributed. Automattic wrote the script. Time for rest of us to read it.”
-Om Malik, founder, GigaOM

“Some say the world of work is changing, but they’re wrong. The world has already changed! Read The Year Without Pants to catch up.”
Chris Guillebeau, author, New York Times bestseller The $100 Startup
“You’ll be surprised, shocked, delighted, thrilled, and inspired by how WordPress.com gets work done. I was!”
-Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president, Microsoft

“Most talk of the future of work is just speculation, but Berkun has actually worked there. The Year Without Pants is a brilliant, honest, and funny insider’s story of life at a great company.”
-Eric Ries, author, New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup

About the Author

Scott Berkun is the author of four popular books: Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation, Confessions of a Public Speaker, and Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds. His work as a writer and speaker has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Wired, the Economist, Fast Company, and Forbes and on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, and other media. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at www.scottberkun.com, and he tweets at @berkun. (Berkun may or may not be wearing pants in this photo.)

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