My last post was about what individuals can do to keep pace with AI. The ideas there were: small daily experiments, not waiting for someone to train you, keeping track of what works for you. That post places all the work on you as an individual. This post is about the multiplier: other people.

You're unlikely to keep up with AI working in isolation. Your learning compounds faster when it's shared. That's the flywheel principle.

What’s a Flywheel?

A flywheel is a heavy rotating disk — it takes effort to get moving, but once it's spinning, momentum carries it. In organizational terms, a flywheel is any self-reinforcing loop where each action feeds the next. Share something you learned → a colleague tries it → they share what they found → you learn something you wouldn't have discovered on your own → you share that. The wheel spins faster with less effort over time.

The External Flywheel: Plug into People Who are Already Sharing

The fastest way to start is to follow a few people whose flywheels are already spinning and whose work is aligned with yours. You don't need to follow everyone. Pick a couple of people who speak your language on a platform you resonate with. Here are the people I follow and share about the most:

Ethan Mollick is a Wharton professor. I was so thankful to see the rigor and focus he brings to his newsletter. The pressure was off me!
Alexandra Samuel covers AI and the future of work for the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review; her biweekly "Thrive at Work" newsletter is one of the cleanest signals available.
If learning and development is your area, Philippa Hardman connects the science of learning with AI in practical, evidence-based ways
Phil Simon writes about AI tools. At the moment, with a focus on Claude. He offers a hands-on site that connects technical topics to pop culture.

Pick two from my list or have one of the AIs help you find your fav. Subscribe. When something lands, don't just file it. Share it with a colleague.

The Internal Flywheel: Your Team Sharing with Each Other

The external flywheel feeds you. The internal one is where the real organizational learning happens. This is the harder build: it requires people to share things that aren't polished, to ask questions they're not sure are "smart," or to talk about strategies that failed. Take a look at Prof. Amy Edmondson’s work to see why.

Start Your Team’s Flywheel this Week… or give one you have a bit of a push. That power is exactly what my brother is afraid of in that teacup.