# Open and Async

> The collaborative software development playbook for remote and distributed teams

## About

Open and Async is a book by Ben Balter, who spent more than a decade at GitHub, about thriving and advancing your career in remote and distributed software development. Drawing on a decade of experience at GitHub—the company that pioneered remote-first software development—the book provides battle-tested practices, concrete patterns, and actionable guidance for both engineering leaders and individual contributors.

## Author

Ben Balter spent more than a decade at GitHub, most recently as Director of Hubber Enablement, where he helped thousands of GitHubbers do their best remote work. Earlier roles there: Chief of Staff for Security, enterprise PM, and GitHub's first Government Evangelist. Before GitHub: attorney, Presidential Innovation Fellow, and member of the White House's first agile development team. The US CTO once called him one of "the baddest of the badass innovators." He holds a J.D. and an M.B.A. from the George Washington University and is a member of the DC Bar.

- [Website](https://ben.balter.com): Ben Balter's personal site
- [GitHub](https://github.com/benbalter): @benbalter
- [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/benbalter.com): @benbalter.com

## Book Details

- **Title**: Open and Async: The collaborative software development playbook for remote and distributed teams
- **Author**: Ben Balter
- **Publication Date**: July 21, 2026
- **Formats**: Paperback ($29.99, 576 pages, ISBN 979-8-9957542-1-3), eBook ($9.99, ISBN 979-8-9957542-0-6); Hardcover (ISBN 979-8-9957542-2-0) and Audiobook (ISBN 979-8-9957542-3-7) to follow
- **BISAC**: BUS071000 (Leadership), BUS085000 (Organizational Behavior), COM051390 (Software Development & Engineering / Tools)
- **Publisher**: Open & Async LLC
- **Availability**: Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores via Ingram

## Audience

- **Engineering Leaders**: VP Eng, Directors, Engineering Managers, Tech Leads — learn how to build effective remote teams, create cultures of transparency, and retain talent.
- **Individual Contributors**: Software developers, senior engineers, tech leads — build skills in async collaboration, written communication, and career advancement through impact.

## Key Topics

- Working in the open: documentation, transparency, giving everything a URL
- Asynchronous communication: replacing meetings, writing clearly, chat etiquette
- Impact over input: measuring outcomes, protecting flow state, developer happiness
- Leadership in distributed teams: decisions as documentation, leading by example
- Team health and sustainability: preventing burnout, navigating conflict, in-person time
- AI and agentic workflows: emerging tools for open and async work

## MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that puts the book's async-first *method* (not the manuscript) in your AI assistant. The method tools work on any project, no book required; the reference tools answer from the book's public summaries, always cited and linked. Free to run and open source.

- [Package on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@open-and-async/mcp): @open-and-async/mcp
- [Source](https://github.com/open-and-async/mcp): open-and-async/mcp on GitHub
- Install (any MCP client): `npx -y @open-and-async/mcp`
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add open-async -- npx -y @open-and-async/mcp`
- What it does: draft a decision doc (ADR) from a blank page; turn "let's hop on a call" into an async artifact with an owner and deadline; pressure-test a status update against the "work loudly, no surprises" rubric; settle sync vs. async in seconds with the rule behind the call.

## Links

- [Website](https://open-and-async.com): the book's home page
- [Quotes](https://open-and-async.com/q/): shareable lines from the book
- [Press & media kit](https://open-and-async.com/press/): bio, cover art, and downloads
- [MCP server source](https://github.com/open-and-async/mcp): the async-first method as MCP tools
- [Sitemap](https://open-and-async.com/sitemap-index.xml): full list of indexable pages