I'd encourage you to keep reading those articles. After quite a good amount of reading, I'd definitively recommend leaning as long as you know exactly how much power (MCP %) you are producing at any time. Set power to 65% and lean to peak rpm, then enrichen 1 turn. Cant go wrong with that.
Leaning will do the following for you: Cleaner cylinders, less carbon deposits/build-up, cleaner sparkplugs and prevent valve sticking. Its not about fuel savings, its about running your engine properly and extending its operating life.
On the ground, lean until you can barely reach 1200rpm. At this power setting its absolutely impossible to damage the engine because of agressive leaning. At full rich the fuel/air ratio is WAY above what is required for such power setting so dont be affraid to lean on the ground. The overly rich mixture is designed to provide sufficient engine cooling at TO power on a low density altitude day. Leaving the mixture fully rich will result in incomplete combustion --> more carbon. Another advantage of using such an agresive leaning on the ground is that it will prevent you from taking off with a leaned out mixture, wich could lead to severe detonation if a low density altitude condition exists.
Unfortunatedly all of Deakins analysis are based on big bore, fuel injected engines with very reliable fuel injectors and engine monitoring instruments. At least it seems that for that kind of set up, he has managed to go beyond the recommended TBO with his engines following more or less the recomendations I've given above.
Remember, do not lean with a high power setting unless you have the appropriate monitoring gauges CHT/EGT for all cylinders and can efficiently monitor them.
I used to fly at Embry-Riddle Florida, where (as aproved by the POH) we would start leaning at 1000ft AGL to the top of the green arc on the F/F gauge (12GPH) and 1/4 of turn for each 1000ft there after on XCs. The 12GPH mark would result in about 1" of mixture out. Of course this was an approved procedure, so I definitively do not encourage you doing the same on a 152. I simply wanted to show that its not always "DO NOT TOUCH THE RED MISTERIOUS LEVER OR BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN"
As a final advise, take a GOOD look at the CHT/EGT/SFC/POWER chats, you can learn something there for sure.
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