Pilar Orti, All the World's A Workplace (Pre-Order)

To work from home, or not to work from home — that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of the commute,
Or to take arms against a sea of distractions,
And by working at home, end them.

Remote work burst into the public eye with Covid-19, forcing millions into a makeshift version of ‘work from home’ (WFH) almost overnight. Such a drastic change to the status quo opened up radical possibilities but the hasty, wholesale adoption of WFH left many struggling to fit new ways of working into old, in-person frameworks.

Some companies have tried to Ctrl+Z their way back to the office; but the remote work genie is not going back in the bottle.

Visionary advocate Pilar Orti has been passionate about remote work for over a decade and, through her consultancy and theatre work, her unique vantage point has helped her to see that many of these issues weren’t, in fact, new. For her, remote work poses much deeper questions than binaries like office/home. Because work isn’t about where you do it but rather what you do, remote work (like Shakespeare) asks us what it fundamentally means to be human. Thinking about remote work through the lens of Shakespeare’s writing lets Pilar see a golden opportunity to rethink and rediscover how work can work best.
To unlock the potential of remote and hybrid working, Pilar argues that employers and employees alike need a mindset shift, one that reconfigures working culture, architecture (both digital and physical), and office leadership. Pilar advocates working practices which make work visible, leadership which empowers, ways to master tech overwhelm, and practical tips for human connections even when teams work remotely.
Join Pilar (and William) and take part in the remote working revolution.

Early Praise for All the World's A Workplace:

Lisette Sutherland

"All the World's a Workplace is a playful, creative masterpiece - a book written with such love and joy for remote work, theatre, learning, and the possibilities that open up when we work differently. Pilar brings the professionalism of an experienced trainer, the ear of a gifted podcaster, and the curiosity of someone who genuinely believes remote work can help us improve ourselves and the world. It's an absolutely fun way to think more deeply about remote work; and you'll learn something about Shakespeare along the way."

— Lisette Sutherland, author of Work Together Anywhere and founder of Collaboration Superpowers

Simon Wilson

"Remarkable in how this book moves the story on post-pandemic and fills out the picture. The structure really works, and the Shakespeare brings a fun, playful energy to a book that laces the personal with deep knowledge."

— Simon Wilson, Certified Professional Facilitator (Master) and co-author of Virtual Meetings: A Practical Guide

Jack Nilles

"If first hand accounts of working anywhere are what you're after, look no further than All the World's a Workplace. Pilar Orti has the depth and breadth of experiences to cover what you're after, nuts and bolts included. With a sense of humor along the way."

— Jack Nilles, Father of telecommuting/telework

David Burkus

"All the World's a Workplace is genuinely entertaining and extremely useful. Pilar Orti blends Shakespearean wit with practical wisdom and gives remote leaders a real framework for improving their team that they can put to work the very same day."

— Dr. David Burkus, author of Best Team Ever

Jordi Serrano

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Remote, hybrid, distributed or flexible: Pilar Orti invites us to look beyond the labels and rethink what collaboration, autonomy, trust and being together really mean. All the World's a Workplace is a thoughtful and refreshingly different reminder that work has changed much more than the people who do it."

— Jordi Serrano, Co-founder, Future for Work Institute

Eva Rimbau-Gilabert

"A thoughtful, well-grounded book. Using Shakespeare as a lens, Orti examines autonomy, identity, and connection as the real challenges of remote work. What I valued most is that she sidesteps the tired 'remote good, office bad' argument, instead drawing on a decade of hands-on experience to view remote, hybrid, and office work as genuine human dilemmas."

— Eva Rimbau-Gilabert, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)

Wayne Turmel

"If to be remote or not to be remote is the question, this book contains the answers. Pilar Orti repurposes Shakespeare's knowledge of humans to help you make good choices."

— Wayne Turmel

Mark Kilby

"All the World's a Workplace does something I didn't expect: it made me remember why I was attracted to the subject of remote work in the first place: it challenges how we think about all aspects of work. As a decade-long reflection of how work has shifted, it's thorough and honest. And weaving Shakespearean themes throughout wasn't just clever; it reminds us that work is human."

— Mark Kilby, co-author of From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams

Tim Burgess

"Through the words of Shakespeare, Pilar has created a refreshingly timeless lens to explore how remote work can be done well. Packed with advice and practical tips, she draws upon a unique blend of personal experience, best practices and insights accumulated from hundreds of conversations with industry experts."

— Tim Burgess, Co-founder, Shield GEO

Nadia Vatalidis

"Pilar weaves timeless literary wit with profound wisdom into an effortless masterpiece. Pilar did it again!"

— Nadia Vatalidis

Sumeet Moghe

"All the World's a Workplace takes a genuine risk: it reads remote work through Shakespeare, and it earns that risk. Pilar Orti isn't forcing a gimmick. She's found a lens that strips away the tooling debates and gets at what's actually at stake — autonomy, connection, identity — the same tensions Hamlet and Helena wrestled with, just relocated to a Zoom call. Most books about remote work stop at defining and recommending processes. This one doesn't. It treats the loneliness, the performative presence, the return-to-office anxiety as human problems first, technical ones second. That ordering is correct, and it's rare. Read this if you lead a remote team and are tired of being told the answer to your distribution challenges is a better app."

— Sumeet Moghe, Principal Product Manager at Thoughtworks, Author of The ASync-First Manifesto