Posts from Awesome Folks #137

A weekly round up of blog posts I've been reading

Author

Emily Webber
January 17, 2025

Hello folks,

This week, I've noticed a lot of posts in my feeds about urgency, hurrying, overload, and saying no. It seems that people are tired and want to reduce the noise to slow down a bit so they can do things better.

The impact of the chaos of work during the pandemic seems to be ongoing. Unless organisations find some space or slack in the system, we will always be playing catch-up.

It’s a good time to remember that having slack in a system leads to better outcomes and the space for innovation.

I hope in 2025, you and your teams can find a little slack for the benefit of individuals and the organisation.

Enjoy this week’s posts, and happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

Three Nonnegotiable Leadership Skills for 2025

Melissa Swift

Work will be messy and volatile in 2025: Focus on developing these leadership skills.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/three-nonnegotiable-leadership-skills-for-2025

The Insidious Effects of Hurrying

Kandi Wiens

As the demands of work and personal life blur in an era of hyperconnectivity and hustle culture, hurry sickness — characterized by behaviors and emotions like impatience, chronic rushing, and a constant sense of time scarcity — is more insidious than ever, quietly sabotaging productivity, relationships, and health. If you find yourself with an urgent need to slow down, your health, your teams, the people you serve through your work, and your loved ones will thank you for taking steps to free yourself from hurry sickness. It’s not about how fast you go; it’s about how well you use the time you have.

hbr.org/2025/01/the-insidious-effects-of-hurrying

How to Get Better at Saying No

A conversation with Cornell’s Dr. Sunita Sah on pushing back effectively.

hbr.org/podcast/2025/01/how-to-get-better-at-saying-no

Organisations and Systems

How the Lego Group Built Culture Change: From the Ground Up

Donald Sull and Charles Sull

Loren Shuster of the Lego Group shares tips on rethinking leadership behaviors at a large, global organization.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-the-lego-group-built-culture-change-from-the-ground-up

Outcomes and Objectives

Productivity v Impact

Jessica Kerr

Here’s a familiar 2×2, the Important & Urgent quadrants: Very early in my career, I was taught to beware the “Not Important & Urgent” quadrant. I’m used to work…

jessitron.com/2024/12/15/productivity-v-impact

From false urgency to strategic leadership

Maxime Najim

Move away from false urgency and instill a culture of strategic influence.

leaddev.com/career-development/from-false-urgency-to-strategic-leadership

The key to breaking free from the negative feedback loop of operational overload

Michelle Egly

Learn strategies to overcome operational overload, delegate effectively, and refocus on strategic goals for greater productivity.

www.mindtheproduct.com/the-key-to-breaking-free-from-the-negative-feedback-loop-of-operational-overload

TBM 332: The Last Strategy Framework You'll Ever Need

John Cutler

Strategy isn't inherently hard because of frameworks or because we somehow lack a strategy definition. Yes, skill matters. Knowing which questions to answer, and when, and how, matters. If you show someone new to strategy a Wardley Map, you'll see someone's head explode.Note: A big thanks to my co-worker John May for brainstorming some of these ideas.

cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-332-the-last-strategy-framework