The Year Without Pants
by Scott Berkun · 2013
A year embedded inside a fully distributed team, working in pajamas, shipping code that runs a chunk of the internet.
Worth reading? The Year Without Pants is the ground-level companion to books like Remote: Berkun actually joined Automattic's distributed team for a year and wrote down what worked and what didn't. It's less prescriptive than Fried and Hansson's books and more observational, which makes it a good reality check against the more idealized remote-work pitches. Skip it if you want a framework -- this is closer to embedded journalism.
| Full Title | The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work |
|---|---|
| Author | Scott Berkun |
| Published | 2013 |
| Publisher | Jossey-Bass |
| Category | Business & Money |
| Favorite quote | “The inability to scale is one of the stupidest arguments against a possibly great idea: greatness rarely scales, and that's part of what made it great in the first place.” |
The Verdict
Most remote-work books argue the case; Berkun just shows you the year, warts included. He’s candid about the friction (hiring by trial, awkward video calls, the specific loneliness of never meeting your team) in a way that more polished management books tend to smooth over.
It’s not a framework you can lift and apply Monday morning, and that’s the honest tradeoff. Read it after a book like Remote for the theory, and use this one to sanity-check whether the idealized version matches what a real team going through it actually looks like.
managers curious what a real, working, fully remote team looks like day to day, not just in theory
you want a tactics manual -- this is a memoir with lessons woven in, not a how-to guide
Book Summary
Berkun took a real job leading a team at Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com) specifically to test whether a fully distributed team could function at scale, not just in theory. The book is his field notes.
Distributed doesn't mean leaderless. Automattic's team still had real management, real accountability, and real conflict -- the difference was that almost none of it happened in person, and most of it happened in writing first.
Autonomy without structure turns into chaos fast. The teams that worked well paired real freedom with real shipping cadence and real written culture, not just "work from wherever, whenever."
Top 10 Lessons from The Year Without Pants
- A fully distributed team can out-ship a co-located one if the tools and culture actually fit.
- Paid work trials before an offer predict fit better than interviews do.
- Written communication forces clearer thinking than a verbal meeting does.
- Autonomy without accountability turns into chaos -- pair both deliberately.
- Company culture gets built in day-to-day chat threads as much as in any handbook.
- Management still matters remotely; 'flat' doesn't mean 'leaderless.'
- Shipping small and often beats big-bang launches, even at a distributed company.
- In-person meetups matter precisely because remote is the default, not despite it.
- A results-only culture only works if you're honest about actually measuring results.
- Radical transparency around metrics and code builds trust faster than perks do.
Top 5 Quotes from The Year Without Pants
"The inability to scale is one of the stupidest arguments against a possibly great idea: greatness rarely scales, and that's part of what made it great in the first place."
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants
"No technique, no matter how good, can turn stupid coworkers into smart ones. And no method can magically make employees trust each other or their boss if they have good reason not to."
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants
"Designing is best done first on paper. It's cheap and fast, making it easy to try many ideas well before anyone's ego is invested."
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants
"There are many theories about why teams of four to six work best, but the simplest is ego. With about five people, there's always enough oxygen in the room."
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants
"Humor has always been a primary part of how I lead. If I can get someone to laugh, they're at ease."
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Year Without Pants worth reading?
Yes, if you want a grounded, honest account of a real distributed team rather than another remote-work pitch. Skip it if you want a framework or checklist -- this is closer to a memoir.
What company does The Year Without Pants describe?
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. Berkun joined as a team lead for a year specifically to document how a large, fully distributed team actually functions.
Is this book still relevant after remote work went mainstream?
Yes -- most remote-work books argue the case in the abstract; this one shows the daily friction (hiring, management, culture-building) that the abstract case usually skips.
Who should read The Year Without Pants?
Managers who've decided to go remote and want to know what actually breaks, not just why it's a good idea. Skip it if you already know the mechanics and just need to execute.
Ready to read it?
Get The Year Without Pants on Amazon
