The Not So Breakfast Show

• Episode 234: Are You World-Class or Just the Fastest Kid at Your School?

  Send us a textIn this episode, Ish and Sacha dive deep into the power of reflection for leadership and career growth. They explore why the skills that got you to where you are today may not be the ones that take you to the next level, and share practical exercises to help you identify and develop your superpowers.Key Topics Why leaders need to maintain a growth mindset regardless of their levelThe danger of believing you're "done" learningUnderstanding what you don't know about what you don't knowThe Superpower FrameworkFour essential reflection questions for career development:What do you believe your superpower is in your current role?What evidence do you have that this is actually your superpower?What's the flip side/negative of operating in that superpower?What does the next level of that superpower look like?Memorable Quotes"The skills that got you to where you are aren't necessarily the skills that are going to get you to where you need to be.""You just don't know what you don't know.""I have increasingly less tolerance for people who already know everything, which is ironic because I know everything if you ask me."Take time this week to sit down (ideally at the beach, with your beverage of choice) and work through the four superpower reflection questions. Document your answers through:Be honest with yourself about:Where you truly excelWhat evidence supports that beliefThe potential downsides of your strengthsWhat growth looks like from hereAlso: First person to DM us gets free Cliff Richard tickets for his Auckland show in November! (No flights or accommodation included)Related ResourcesWorking It Out with Mike Birbiglia (Podcast)Bob Odenkirk episode on Working It Out

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• Episode 233: Topless Quiz Shows and Uncomfortable Guitars

  Send us a textSacha's texting furiously about house purchases while declaring busyness isn't impressive ("it makes you stupid"), while Ish has prepared a leadership trivia quiz based on their own podcast transcripts because he's "a man of action." This leads into a conversation about the gap between good intentions and actual follow-through, featuring uncomfortable singing, breast cancer fundraisers, and why you should push past discomfort when it actually matters.AI is going to have a field day naming this episode with all the topless lake content. Also, Ish's accidental quiz spoiler ("Have I told you the Big Bird story yet?") before asking the Big Bird question is peak unintentional comedy.Main TopicsThe Action vs. Intention Gap - Sacha genuinely believed she'd prepare a quiz, but good intentions without systems mean nothing. You don't rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.The 10 Guitars Moment - At a 10in10 speaking event, Sacha pulls out her guitar and invites the audience to sing. Most people stand stiffly with arms crossed, uncomfortable. Her point: "You can't hurt my feelings by not singing - but recognize this feeling when you're asked to step up at work."The Topless Lake Jump Reality Check - 70 women take the plunge at Lake for a breast cancer fundraiser, bodies of all shapes, sizes, and configurations. Sacha's comfort being topless (post-mastectomy) helped others feel free to do the same. Marianne Williamson's quote in action: When you let your light shine, it gives others permission.The Quiz HighlightsQuestions covered: Lucy Hone's helping/harming question, the five presenting personas, rocket ship paradox, prep like they hate you/present like they love you, coaching model breakdown, decision-making practice, CRC/shit sandwich feedback model, Tony Robbins' pattern interruption (plastic snake head hitting included), traffic analogy, box breathing, and Big Bird on the Challenger.Pop Culture ConvergenceIsh finally watched K-pop Demon Hunters feel in the zeitgeist. Sacha's done her bit for "White Woman" by listening to the entire Taylor Swift album multiple times.Bottom LineThe gap between who you want to be and who you actually are shows up in tiny moments - not singing when invited, not preparing the quiz despite good intentions, not stepping into uncomfortable opportunities. Systems beat intentions. Action beats aspiration. And sometimes you need to be topless in a lake to help others feel free.Visit our website: notsobreakfastshow.com

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• Episode 232: Working at Speed, Guardrails, and Why Big Bird Didn't Explode

  Send us a textSacha's drinking her Moody probiotic soda (unofficial sponsor, awaiting payment confirmation) while stress-managing through tomorrow's house auction, ready to burn all the styling company's cushions in a cleansing ritual. Ish has been executing decisions at breakneck speed this week, discovering both the benefits and the "oh shit, should've thought of that" consequences of moving fast. Plus: Big Bird almost went to space and exploded.Main TopicsThe Rocket Ship Paradox - If you send three rockets to Saturn 10 years apart, the third one lands first because of innovation and improved technology. But someone has to build that first rocket or nothing moves forward.The Decision That Launched a Thousand Questions - Ish added employee benefits quickly, then faced the cascade of "what about this?" questions he hadn't anticipated, proving you can have all the answers without having thought through all the questionsPost-Implementation vs. Pre-Planning - Coffee Culture has manuals for everything, but people still ask questions because they don't read until confronted with real situations. Slower prep doesn't always mean fewer questions.The Four-Month Wait for Nothing -- Organisations that consult, collaborate, brainstorm, wait for manager sign-off, SLT approval, board approval... only to make the same decision four months later they would've made on day oneKey Decision FrameworkAsk yourself: "If I had to make this call right now, what would I do?"If you're not waiting for more information, stop waiting. Sacha's new practice: force herself to decide immediately instead of saying "let me sit with that."Moving at pace builds momentum and energy. The time spent on post-implementation cleanup is usually less than the time lost to pre-implementation overthinking. If you added up all the months spent waiting for perfect information, you're always behind the team that launched and learned.When Speed Makes Sense:You have foundational processes already in place (someone built the first rocket)The decision is easily reversible if it goes wrongCulture is trust-based, not blame-basedYou can troubleshoot quickly post-launchThe strategic advantage outweighs the riskWhen Speed Doesn't Make Sense:Infrastructure changes are involvedIt's difficult to unpick the decisionYou're naturally a "fly by the seat of your pants" decision-maker alreadyTeam is burned out from continuous sprintingYou're making decisions based on emotion and vibesVisit our website: notsobreakfastshow.com

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• Episode 231: Your Roman Empire (And Why Your Brain Won't Shut Up)

  Send us a textYour Roman Empire (And Why Your Brain Won't Shut Up)Sacha's wearing her new Temu t-shirt ("More Spaghetti Less Upsetting") after finally breaking her months-long resistance to fast fashion retail therapy, while Ish has discovered a new level of ChatGPT skills can solve tech support problems in minutes that actual support teams can't solve in days. This spirals into a conversation about mental noise, the Roman Empire TikTok trend, and whether we should all just become pen pals again.Plus, The Paperclip Apocalypse, an AI programmed to make as many paperclips as possible, eventually destroying the universe by converting everything - humans, cars, planets - into paperclips. Just another thing Ish is thinking about now.Main TopicsThe Retail Therapy Revelation -- Sacha's dopamine hit from $3 t-shirts versus the flat feeling when they actually arrived, raising questions about why the shopping feels better than the stuff itselfThe Roman Empire Question -- A 2023 TikTok trend where women discovered men think about the Roman Empire constantly. Sacha doesn't think about Romulus and Remus at all, but has plenty of other mental noise keeping her busyChatGPT as Tech Support Replacement -- Ish's 9-minute problem-solving session with AI versus Pocketsmith's multi-day email chain, proving we can now get answers instantly (for better or worse)The Mental Clutter Crisis -- From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok to Threads to X to Snapchat - the exhausting reality of maintaining connections across platforms while being bombarded with information you never asked forThe Dead Internet Theory -- Approximately 50% of internet users are now bots, AI, or spam farms, meaning half your feed isn't even human-created content anymoreVisit our website: notsobreakfastshow.comPS: "Get yourself a smell" is officially the worst meditation advice ever delivered, but Sacha's not the woman with matching napkins, so fart jokes still land.

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• Episode 230: Stop Being So Shit (A Leadership Manifesto)

  Send us a textEpisode 230: Stop Being So Shit (A Leadership Manifesto)Recording at actual breakfast time for once, Sacha's successfully navigating life without peanut slabs through strategic fruit substitution and emergency dried fruit protocols. This leads into a conversation about whether we need more leaders or just more people willing to improve their performance and help each other out.Maybe we don't need more leaders - we need more people operating with a leadership mindset, regardless of title. Help when asked, help when not asked, ask for help to create opportunities for others, and stop waiting for perfect conditions to begin.Main TopicsThe Promotion Problem - Why taking your best talent out of doing work to manage people often backfires, plus how medium-sized companies get stuck without proper support systems (big companies have AI, small companies don't need complexity, medium ones suffer in between)The Spider Web Effect - When 10 regional managers create 10 different systems for the same problem, each convinced their's is best, leading to inevitable "alignment" battles where everyone agrees on standardisation as long as it's their standardHelicopter Parenting Consequences - From forgotten lunch delivery to workplace entitlement: when you clear every obstacle for children, you create adults who won't begin tasks unless they have everything they need immediatelySacha's Helper of Mankind Origin Story - Her unfinished childhood embroidery (just "S" and partial "A" for years) versus sister Kyla's completed "gift from God" version (thanks to mom's strategic outsourcing), explaining her deep-wired need to help othersThe Lucy Hone Question Applied to Work -- "Is the way you are behaving right now helping or is it harming?" Applied to eye-rolling, stair-stomping, email-ignoring, and "not my mistake, so not my problem" attitudesSacha's Speaking Philosophy Distilled "What do you speak about?" "Stop being so shit." "No, what do you really talk about?" "Stop being so shit, but framed positively: You can do it. Everything you need is within you, and you are responsible."Visit our website: notsobreakfastshow.com

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