News: I’m independent again
A few weeks ago I let Matt, my boss, know I was stepping down from my role at WordPress.com. It might be a surprise to some of you that I’d taken a job at all, but I’ve been there for nearly 2 years as the lead of Team Social, a team of developers and designers working on WordPress.com (We made things like Jetpack, Publicize, and dozens of features on WordPress.com). My experience there was amazing, but as my deepest passion is writing books and speaking it was time to return to what I do best. I’d planned to stay for just a year, but it was harder than I expected to leave.
The good news: Until this change I’d been dividing my time since August 2010, when I took the job, between two different careers. Its been a relief these last weeks to return to having just one set of ambitions to chase. And more importantly, have some time to do almost nothing at all. You’ll see more output from me here on the blog and in the world in general, as I’m now again focused on one goal: filling that bookshelf.
The next book I’m working on will be about my experience working at Automattic on WordPress.com. It’s a great company whose unusual culture (everyone works remotely) asks many important questions about not only how software should be made, but how all work should be done. I’ll have more for you soon about this project so stay tuned.
I hope you’ll wish me well on my return to independence.
Congratulations, Scott. I’m looking forward to your next book.
I wish you well, my friend, but I miss you terribly as you very well know.
But, of course, I’ll be looking closely at what comes next in the Berkun adventure of filling that bookshelf, and looking forward to reading all the fun episodes you’ll write about Team Social on your next book :D
Thanks Hugo – my Monday mornings are not the same :) I’ll keep you posted on the book. I promise.
Does this mean you can get back to wearing pajamas all day again? ;)
Good luck! Can’t wait to read the book.
Actually, many folks at WordPress.com work in their pajamas. It’s sort of a running joke about who is wearing pants at all.
Good Luck Scott!
As someone who recently discovered your site (after reading TAoPM)I am excited to know there will be more blogs and essays coming this way!
Awesome! Looking forward for new and intresting articles from you Scott!
Excellent! I’m especially interested in the successful “all remote” strategy. It’s exceedingly difficult in my experience and would love to learn any tips, etc.
Best to you on this next stage.
Dear Scott;
Have the best wishes in this free, but certain path.
All the good vibe from Mexico City.
Rom
Scott!
Great to hear that you will be more active on this blog, just what i needed when my inspiration was dying..
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to your thinking about what you learned working for WordPress.
Congratulations Scott!! What a freeing feeling it must be :) Can’t wait to see this new book!!
Scott,
Wish you well — and very much look forward to the new book.
Not enough has been written about startup culture and what happens inside some of the world’s best software companies.
Congratulations, Scott. Looking forward to the new work!
Congrats on the move and I’m looking forward to the book, particularly as my main client is a WordPress-based eCommerce platform called Jigoshop which has a large proportion of remote staff – an insight into how WordPress.com works would be amazingly helpful for us!
All the best in the mono-venture! Looking forward to the next book. Having done multiple stints as a remote contributor and manager, I’m curious to see how our experiences might compare.
I’m very interested to see your thoughts and experiences on remote work, as I am now working that way myself. Keep us posted, let’s share some ideas!
Congratulations. Definitely very excited to read about your time at Automattic; seems like an amazing company culture.
Congratulations! Should be a terrific book.
Scott, all the best. looking forward to your next book. Insightful experience books on that topic is hard to come by.
I would certainly like to hear your thoughts on teams that are geographically distributed. I am currently in this situation with many of the projects that I am working on and it does pose some serious questions, especially about how to communicate effectively.
In the meantime, since you’re free again… you still work for us! We are happy to claim you back.
The book is almost here:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1118660633/scottberkunco-20/