Day One: Getting Back on the Keyboard
After years of people management, I'm rebuilding my engineering skills from scratch. Here's why — and the plan.
I’ve been a manager for a long time. A long time. My last meaningful production commit was years ago. My PR reviews were mostly about process, not code. My hands got soft.
This is the start of a rebuild.
Why Now?
Three reasons:
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The agentic era changes everything. AI-assisted coding, agentic workflows, the entire landscape has shifted. If I don’t learn this, I’ll be irrelevant.
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I miss building. There’s a specific joy in making something work — the dopamine hit of a green test suite, the satisfaction of shipping. I want that back.
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Leadership requires empathy. I can’t credibly lead engineers if I don’t understand what their daily work feels like in 2026.
The Plan
I’m going to learn in public. Every project, every failure, every “aha” moment goes on this blog.
Phase 1: Foundations — Modern JavaScript/TypeScript, React, the ecosystem that’s emerged.
Phase 2: Full Stack — Build actual applications. Frontend, backend, infrastructure.
Phase 3: Agentic — Build with AI agents, not just with AI assistance.
The Rules
- Ship fast. Done > perfect.
- Write about everything.
- Ask stupid questions publicly.
- No ego — I’m a beginner again.
Let’s go.