Posts from Awesome Folks #161

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

Emily Webber
July 18, 2025

Hello folks,

It’s been a week with a lot of life happening; this week is mostly about processing and reflection, and distracting myself with work things, like publishing this new post.

So, I’ll keep this pretty short and share this gif of the local starlings enjoying the hot new place in town, our half-barrel pond.

An animated gif from a video of starlings bathing in a half barrel pond, lots of flying in and out.

Hug your friends and family, enjoy this week’s posts, and have a happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

New Research on the Link Between Learning and Innovation

Jean-François Harvey, Johnathan R. Cromwell, Kevin J. Johnson and Amy C. Edmondson

New research reveals a likely culprit of stalled innovation efforts: Teams are blending incompatible learning activities at the wrong times. The highest-performing teams don’t try to do everything at once; instead, they separate learning activities into clear episodes, establishing a rhythm that alternates thoughtfully between exploration and reflection.

hbr.org/2025/07/new-research-on-the-link-between-learning-and-innovation

When Times Get Tough, Make Learning Your Strategic Advantage

Beth Messich

Cutting learning and development investment costs more than you think. Discover why smart leaders invest, especially in times of uncertainty.

peoplemanagingpeople.com/learning-development/learning-and-development-investment

Organisations and Systems

The Scaling Teams checklist

Emily Webber (and Jamie Arnold)

How do you know when you're ready to scale your team(s)? Jamie Arnold and I have been exploring this topic and have created a handy download to help leaders and teams answer the question.

emilywebber.co.uk/the-scaling-teams-checklist

Three Invisible Hurdles to Innovation | Scott D. Anthony

Scott D. Anthony

By facing three common challenges to innovation, leaders can overcome the obstacles they’ve constructed against it.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/three-invisible-hurdles-to-innovation

Facilitation and Decision making

Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems for Them

Elizabeth Lotardo

Many leaders today are struggling to balance the aspiration of being supportive with the reality of feeling overwhelmed by their own to-do list. But when a well-meaning leader becomes the default problem-solver, the entire organization pays the price. This dynamic creates decision-making bottlenecks, diminishes team ownership, and accelerates managerial burnout.

hbr.org/2025/07/stop-solving-your-teams-problems-for-them

Planning an Offsite for Your Leadership Team? Ask These 5 Questions

Marissa Fernandez and Frans van Loef

Offsites aren’t just a day away from the office—they’re an opportunity to reset your team’s trajectory if planned thoughtfully and with a forward-looking focus. To design an offsite that delivers lasting results, ask these five outcome-oriented questions…

hbr.org/2025/07/planning-an-offsite-for-your-leadership-team-ask-these-5-questions

Approaches for Teams

How to be open while you test and learn

Giles Turnbull

Building institutional confidence for working in the open

gilest.org/notes/open-test-learn.html

Other Things

Flesh and Code podcast

Travis never thought he’d meet someone like Lily Rose. She was kind, passionate, and beautiful. The woman of his dreams. There was just one small detail: she wasn’t human.Lily Rose is an AI companion...

From Wondery comes a true story of love, loss and the temptations of technology. Can an algorithm truly replace human connection? And what happens when a corporation controls your deepest emotions? Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire, hosts of the hit podcast RedHanded, explore the dark side of AI love.

wondery.com/shows/flesh-and-code