Oversimplified: Volume 98

System design, products as gardens, and the mental game of baseball

Hey there 👋

Quick hits this week. Let’s get to the best links I found on the internet. If this issue was forwarded to you, check out some previous issues and subscribe for future updates.

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Notes on The Mental Game of Baseball

Conor Dewey | Reading | 2021-02-01

Even if sports aren’t your thing, you might find something useful here. This is still one of the more influential books I’ve read to this day on confidence, visualization, and attitude.

System Design Explains the World

Apenwarr | Thinking | 2020-12-27

"Systems design is a branch of study to find universal architectural patterns that are valid across disciplines.” I like how this post leans on relatable stories to make a somewhat philosophical topic more concrete. Well done.

My Product Is My Garden

Herman Martinus | Product | 2020-12-01

“I want to putter about, feel connected to the process, and have fun doing so. I want to make things that don’t scale.” I’ve been increasingly interested in seeing things as gardens. More thoughts to come on this…

How to Find Portfolio-Audience Fit

Howard Gray | Product | 2021-01-31

This is a useful exercise to try out. I found the Venn diagram of interests to be straightforward, but visualizing projects as “beams” was really interesting. I don’t think mapping projects to audiences is always the right move, but it’s critical to keep in mind.

Why You Should Write

Gergely Orosz | Advice | 2021-01-25

I’ve been pretty gung-ho on writing for several years now. Personally, I like to think it helps me synthesize new things I learn. Here are some more arguments if you want a little inspiration.

Monitoring Followers

Foone | Advice | 2021-02-06

This is a really cool thread on displaying an updated count of Twitter followers on a monitor with a little Basic and Raspberry Pi. Seems like a fun project.

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Food for Thought

“Publishing daily is important because you will quickly see what topics and ideas people respond to and what they don’t. Soon you’ll become better and better at creating and posting the things that people care about most. As you do that, your audience will grow, you will become more confident, and your message will become clear. Over time, that consistency will give you absolute certainty, and you will become your message.” — Russell Brunson

Thanks for reading!

As always, if you're enjoying Oversimplified, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If anything stood out, whether good or bad, I would love to hear about it. Reply to this email or tweet at me and let’s chat.

Until next time,

Conor