Oversimplified: Issue 69
Winning remote meetings, advice on advice, and hacking email productivity
Hey there š
Letās get to the best links I found on the internet this week. If youāre enjoying the newsletter, share it with a friend! If this was forwarded to you, check out some previous issues and subscribe for future updates.
š What I Wrote
The Power of Capturing Knowledge in Meetings
I wrote a guest blog post for Miro that was published last week. This is a quick dive into some of the things Iāve picked up while working remotely over the past few months. You can find a short summary on Twitter.
š What I Read
The Rise of Worse is Better
I was recommended this classic essay by Richard Gabriel a few weeks ago on the dynamics of software engineering and functionality vs. usability. There is a lot of timeless stuff to unpack here.
The Helpful Hierarchy and Kairos
This read is a few years old and only a few minutes long, but I thought the visualization here was excellent. It outlines the full spectrum of helpfulness from identifying problems to fixing them.
How to Set Compensation Using Commonsense Principles
Letās talk about compensation! Erik Bernhardsson goes deep in this post on principles and elements of well-instrumented monetary systems. I now understand why sign-on bonuses are standard practice in tech.
Never Hertz to Ask
Alex Danco put together an entertaining analysis of the craziness that went down this past week with Hertz. I would like to permanently opt-in for any future stories that manage to weave together Bloomberg, Reddit, Barstool Sports, and Johnny Knoxville.
Advice on Advice
This is a shorter read on advice from Daniel Gross that I found really profound. The ādouble-sided marketplaceā for advice is broken. Hereās how to identify thoughtful responses.
š„ What I Found Interesting
GTA V Graphics Study
Iāve been thinking more about gaming lately with all the hype surrounding the new console generation. This three-part case study on how GTA V renders graphics was a nice Saturday morning read.
The Opposite of Tech Debt
I like this tweet on technical debt. We really donāt consider the inverse very often ā Compounding gains can make building things easier over time.
Productivity Hack for Email
Did anyone else not know this was possible? I havenāt set it up for myself yet, but this is one of the cooler little hacks Iāve seen recently.
š¤ Quote I'm Pondering
"One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. It takes far more energy and work to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence." ā Peter Drucker
Thanks for reading Oversimplified this week! Did anything stand out? Iād love to hear about it. Reply to this email or tweet at me and letās chat š
Until next time,
Conor