You’re reading The Steady Beat, a weekly-ish round-up of hand-picked articles and resources for people who make software products: designers, engineers, product managers, and organizational leaders.
By the Numbers - Formula One and Micrsoft Excel
- 20,000 — The number of individual components Williams F1 was tracking using Microsoft Excel for its car builds. Unsurprisingly, this system was described as “a joke.”
- 10x — The increase in the number of parts processed during the 2024 car build, overwhelming Williams’ outdated systems and leading to significant production delays.
- 400 — The number of separate components needed to make just one front wing, highlighting the complexity of Formula 1 car construction.
- 1.7% — Williams has closed the gap to the fastest car in 2024 by cutting its deficit to 1.7%, an improvement from nearly 2% last year.
- 3 years — The estimated time it will take for Williams to fully adopt the new culture and processes needed to become a top-performing team under new leadership.
— The Race, 7m
Why Techies Leave Big Tech
Big Tech has prestige, pay, and scale, but it’s losing its grip on talent. Mass layoffs, stagnant growth opportunities, and suffocating politics are making startups more appealing to many engineers and leaders. While compensation remains hard to beat, the culture shifts—processes replacing speed, bureaucracy growing thick—drive many to seek a return to nimble environments. The financial freedom Big Tech offers ironically helps people walk away, opting for meaningful, hands-on work in startups or scaleups, even if it means taking a pay cut—at least for now.
— Gergely Orosz, 15m #design #engineering #productmanagement
A New Logo for CSS
CSS is finally getting a long-overdue logo makeover. The current logo, stuck in a CSS3 time warp, doesn’t reflect how far CSS has come since its 2011 debut. The CSS-Next Community Group is leading the charge, not just reimagining the logo but also defining CSS’s new eras—CSS5 is now, and CSS6 is on the horizon. With lively debate over designs, from playful “CSS is Awesome” memes to sleek cascades, the community collaboration is in full swing. So, new logo soon? Absolutely. Mascot? Still TBD.
— CSS Tricks, 6m #design #branding
Build Your Own Browser
Web browsers might seem like mysterious, complex beasts, but a new e-book by Pavel Panchekha and Chris Harrelson aims to make them a lot less intimidating. Web Browser Engineering takes readers through the process of building a simplified browser, step by step. While it won’t handle every edge case or standard, the book’s 3,000 lines of Python offer a peek under the hood of the 10-million-line giants we use every day. Along the way, you’ll learn how these essential tools actually work—and maybe even build your own.
— Web Browser Engineering, 3h #engineering
Leaders and Teams
In today’s world of cross-functional, agile squads, companies are obsessed with teams. But the focus is misplaced. Instead of chasing team spirit, the true key to success lies in leadership. Teams can become inward-looking, focusing on their own mini-goals while losing sight of the larger mission. Harvard’s Amy Edmondson, pioneer of the “psychological safety” concept, stresses the importance of strong, inclusive leadership—because good leaders cultivate collaboration, guide behavior, and foster the environment where teams truly thrive.
- Cliff Berg, 11m, #leadership
Less Meetings, More Context
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