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

by Berkun, Scott

• ISBN13: 9781118660638
• ISBN10: 1118660633
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-09-10
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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.)

Table of Contents

What You Need to Know

1 The Hotel Electra

2 The First Day

3 Tickets for Caturday

4 Culture Always Wins

5 Your Meetings Will Be Typed

6 The Bazaar at the Cathedral

7 The Big Talk

8 The Future of Work, Part 1

9 Working the Team

10 How to Start a Fire

11 Real Artists Ship

12 Athens Lost and Found

13 Double Down

14 There Can Be Only One

15 The Future of Work, Part 2

16 Innovation and Friction

17 The Intense Debate

18 Follow the Sun

19 The Rise of Jetpack

20 Show Me the Money

21 Portland and the Collective

22 The Bureau of Socialization

23 Exit through Hawaii

24 The Future of Work, Part 3

Epilogue: Where Are They Now?

Notes

Annotated Bibliography

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

Photo Credits