Week-by-week outline
Eight weeks
Each week has one live session (90 minutes) and async work (2–2.5 hours).
Week 1
Calibration baseline
Core exercise: Predict outcomes of 20 short scenarios. Deliverable: Confidence log v1.
Week 2
Reviewing AI-generated code
Core exercise: PRs with planted flaws. Deliverable: Review scorecard.
Week 3
Mental models by hand
Core exercise: No-AI katas: concurrency, data, performance. Deliverable: Kata solutions + reflection.
Week 4
Design under constraints
Core exercise: One-page design with stated trade-offs. Deliverable: Design doc v1.
Week 5
How systems fail
Core exercise: Pre-mortems + incident replays. Deliverable: Failure-mode map.
Week 6
Decisions over time
Core exercise: Architecture archaeology. Deliverable: Decision retrospective.
Week 7
Capstone, part 1
Core exercise: Real decision on a live system. Deliverable: Decision proposal.
Week 8
Capstone, part 2
Core exercise: Defend the decision to a senior panel. Deliverable: Final write-up + confidence log v2.
At a glance
| Week | Theme | Core exercise | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calibration baseline | Predict outcomes of 20 short scenarios | Confidence log v1 |
| 2 | Reviewing AI code | PRs with planted flaws | Review scorecard |
| 3 | Mental models by hand | No-AI katas: concurrency, data, performance | Kata solutions + reflection |
| 4 | Design under constraints | One-page design with stated trade-offs | Design doc v1 |
| 5 | How systems fail | Pre-mortems + incident replays | Failure-mode map |
| 6 | Decisions over time | Architecture archaeology | Decision retrospective |
| 7 | Capstone, part 1 | Real decision on a live system | Decision proposal |
| 8 | Capstone, part 2 | Defend the decision to a senior panel | Final write-up + confidence log v2 |