As you progress in your career, even though you may stop writing code, your job will require that you guide technical decision making. Even with architects who design the systems or other senior technical staff who are in charge of the details, as the manager of a team, you have the job of holding those people accountable for their decisions, of making sure that the decisions pass the technical smell test and have been balanced against the overall context of the team and the business. Technical instincts honed over years of doing the job are very important for guiding that process.
