12 lessons · about 168 minutes of reading · complete

Plan the work before you design the solution

You already know how to break a feature down and ship it. The gap between that and senior-level planning is usually not skill. It is sequence. Most engineers jump to a solution the moment the ask arrives. The step that belongs in between is the one this course drills: frame the problem, force the disagreement early, then commit with numbers you can defend. In this course you will practice that sequence on a badly formed ask until the habit holds.

Start lesson one: Frame the problem before you propose a solution →

Lessons

This course is being written as you work through it. Lesson one is ready. Ask your teaching agent for the next one when you have drafted your one-pager.

Framing

Getting the problem stated before anyone proposes a solution.

Designing

Turning an agreed problem into a proposal a team can review.

Estimating

Putting a number on it without lying. to them or to yourself.

05The estimate you can defendA single number is a prediction with its confidence hidden. Here is how the outside view produces a range you can actually argue for.15 min

Committing

Turning a plan into something you and other people have actually signed up to.

Arriving late

The same sequence run backwards, for when the plan already exists and it is not yours.

12Arriving in the middle of someone else’s planWhat the missing artifacts tell you, why you should not clear a fence you cannot explain, and how to decide what is worth reopening on a project already in flight.14 min

How to actually get value from this

Write the artefact, don’t just read about it. Every lesson ends with something you draft. A planning course you only read is a reading course.
Bring the draft back. Paste it into the chat and ask for a skeptical review. That is the review loop the lesson is simulating.
Use your real work. Once a habit lands on the invented SSO project, run it again on something actually on your plate.

Every claim on these pages links to its source. If a source looks wrong or out of date, check the resource list and tell your teaching agent. The course is meant to be corrected.