For the last couple weeks I've been on an "Management Sabbatical" – a term I dubbed for where I'm working full-time, but on none of my typical leadership/management type work.
Instead, I'm getting to just explore ideas and reconnect with some IC work. Almost no calls/meetings, just Maker Time – for nearly the whole summer. Couldn't be more excited about it!
I decided to do this since the timing seemed perfect:
- We split our big Product/Eng team into 6 smaller teams at EOY (I'll write more about this re-org later), and those teams are now fully up-and-running
- We recently got back from our Paris all-company retreat where the whole company got increased clarity/alignment around product vision & roadmap
- Some key leadership hires on my team were hired and fully onboarding recently, and doing great.
- With AI, there's never been a more exciting time to just build!
What exactly am I up to?
- Deeper exploration of AI Coding Agents
- Getting re-acquainted with some more modern coding practices and actually shipping code on @Close again
- Exploring other creative ideas that may be impactful to the business
- Whatever else seems interesting :)
I expect this time of being less-busy will be refreshing, give me better perspective, and ultimately help me come back as a better Leader.
Very grateful for the full support from @Steli & @anemitz and other EPD leadership coworkers to give me space to do this!