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 -
- 1979 — The year Oracle Database was first released
- 25,000,000 — The approximate number of lines of C code in Oracle Database 12.2
- 20 — The minimum number of different flags a developer must understand to debug a typical issue in Oracle Database.
- 100-200 — The number of servers in the test farm used to compile and test code changes.
- 20-30 — The number of hours it takes for the test suite to run on a code change.
- 6-24 — The number of months it can take to develop and release a small feature.
All Zoomed Out
A massive study of 450,000 workers reveals what many already suspect: too many meetings are driving employees to the edge. The average number of virtual meetings per week has climbed to over 10, and the percentage of silent participants is surging. If your people are keeping their cameras off and staying on mute, it might be a red flag for higher attrition rates. The solution? Set limits on meeting frequency, enforce best practices, and—most importantly—make reducing meetings a leadership priority.
Inc., 4m #leadership #management #meetings #communication
A PM Redemption Plan
Product Managers have gone from hero to meme, with startups boasting “We don’t hire PMs!” and “founder mode” celebrating micromanagement over delegation. But Peter Yang offers a path to redemption. His ten reflections call for less PM theater—ditch the endless roadmaps and focus on what users actually need. Forget hypergrowth hype; it’s about sustainable impact. Avoid leaders who manage up and find a role that matches your values. Streamline OKRs, design better incentives, and communicate directly across all levels. Ultimately, it’s about building, not bureaucratizing. Time to bring the craft back to PM.
Peter Yang, 5m, #productmanagement
Engineering Management at Amazon
Ever been baffled by Amazon’s meeting rituals or their laser focus on precise communication? Gilad Naor shares insights from his time as an engineering manager at the tech giant, revealing three key lessons: solving problems with mechanisms rather than intentions, avoiding “weasel words” for clarity, and granting full autonomy to teams. He misses the deep technical talks (think solving S3-scale challenges), but not the inconsistent people management. The takeaway? Create systems that outlast good intentions, speak with precision, and give your teams the freedom to lead.
Leading Developers, 6m #leadership #management
AI Art Attack
Web design trends are shifting again, and this time it’s all about generative AI images. After years of dev tool aesthetics dominating, AI-generated visuals are emerging as the new “it” factor. But beware: slapping a pretty picture on your site isn’t enough anymore because everyone’s doing it, and everyone knows it took just minutes to make. To truly stand out, designers need to push beyond visuals and establish deeper conceptual motifs, incorporate subtle use cases, and add motion to their designs. It’s no longer just about making things look good—it’s about making them meaningful.
Dive, 4m #design #ai #productdesign
Product Updates at Steady
Steady’s summer hustle brings turbocharged updates for software teams. Now you can zip through check-ins with AI-powered summaries and Quick Fill, while GitHub PR activities automatically sync into the workflow. And for all you managers with a need-to-know itch, following other teams and goals just got a whole lot easier. Bonus: hear me talk async on the Refactoring podcast, and get ready for a slick new UI.
Steady, 3m #continuouscoordination
Less Meetings, More Context
Have you tried Steady? It’s an AI-powered coordination layer that eliminates 83% of meetings for software teams.
Steady runs in the background, distilling plans and progress from tools, teams, & people into tailored summaries, giving everyone the clarity they need to build outstanding products together. With Steady, everyone has continuous context at their fingertips, eliminating the need for burdensome shoulder taps, interruptions, and endless meetings.
Learn more at steady.space.
