As I advanced in my career, starting from a software engineer to a lead engineer, I have realized that it is very important to remain technically sound, not just by knowing stuff but having the ability to showcase what we really know. Tech industry is changing very rapidly, and in this fast-moving world, it has become very important to quickly pick up what to learn and how integrate ourselves with the skills that may serve great purpose going forward. So, here is my take on what to do to remain technically relevant.
Just like everything else, there is a wear-and-tear that happens to the knowledge we gain when we are at the highest point of our learning career. We may not realize it, but when we are at college, we work for ourselves and just for ourselves. When we join the workforce, things change a little bit, and we are hit by the responsibility and expectations of a larger entity. To keep oneself on the same track, it is essential to go back to the notes, books, and lectures we were used to when we were in the college.
To keep oneself engaged in something, work on a side project. Code often and build prototype systems. As we keep on moving up to top positions, we tend to disassociate ourself with technical kinds of stuff and talk in a more abstract manner. Making power point presentations, designing overview diagrams and pitching ideas becomes the norm. Side projects can be one of the ways to keep ownself on the track. Posting work on GitHub can be very motivating. With the new features on GitHub such as unlimited private git repositories, one may not fear about code leaks and all.
It is very easy to get caught up with the process and never look on the other side. A side that mostly discuss topics in a more technical language. Building a network of people would help in this case. These people may not be having enough expertise, but talking to them can lead to exciting problem statements.