The New Guy on Working in New Ways

A new job always brings with it changes. I’ve already mentioned the different tools I’ve had to use, and their effect on me. But one cultural change in particular is having the biggest impact on me.
This. Right here. Blogging!
Blogging isn’t new. Not even close. And Atlassian isn’t unique in embracing blogging. But, man, we sure do a lot of it!

Blogging is part of being open, and being open is a core part of not just Atlassian, but the individuals who make up Atlassian. Not all of us blog, but a lot of us do! We have not only the News and Developer blogs, but planet.atlassian.com syndicates blogs from 20 different Atlassians — about a sixth of the company!
Internally, we do a lot of blogging on our Confluence instance. There are somewhere around twenty internal blog posts a day, from pretty much every group within the company. The majority of posts solicit at least a few comments, and some prompt lengthy conversations.
Blogging has changed the way I think about my job. Everytime I check something off my to-do list, I wonder if I should post a blog on EAC. I’m constantly asking myself “should I blog about this?” The answer is often “Yes!”
And then, of course, there’s blogging here, in public. Believe me when I tell you that knowing your Mom is checking out stuff you do at work is…….strange. Very cool, but strange. (Hi, Mom!)
And now that I’ve been bitten by the blogging bug it won’t be too long until I start my personal blog and add it to our Planet.