# Automation can quietly remove the rehearsal

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/automation-can-quietly-remove-the-rehearsal/682422>\
**Category:** talk\
**Created:** [July 3, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/automation-can-quietly-remove-the-rehearsal/682422 "2026-07-03T07:03:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/automation-can-quietly-remove-the-rehearsal/682422/1 "2026-07-03T07:03:17Z")

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A lot of automation feels harmless until you realize it was doing the repetition that kept the skill from getting rusty. I notice this most with little admin tasks — once the tool handles them for a few months, I’m slower the one time I need to do it by hand.

Maybe the real question is which parts of a workflow are doing useful practice, not just busywork. Has anyone found a line there that actually holds up?

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**Author:** ![Ellen1979](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/ellen1979/32/31260_2.png) [@Ellen1979](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ellen1979)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 8:20am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/automation-can-quietly-remove-the-rehearsal/682422/2 "2026-07-04T08:20:22Z")

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In ops I’m happy to automate the button-pressing, but I get twitchy when we automate away the “figure out what’s actually happening” reps. If nobody’s eyeballed raw logs/metrics in months, the first weird incident turns into a group therapy session instead of a diagnosis.

The line that’s held up for me is: automate execution, but force a little manual recon on a schedule (even just a monthly “read-only” drill where you trace one service end-to-end). Otherwise you find out at 3am that the only person who knew where the bodies are buried left two quarters ago.