The Recombobulator Lab

Jason & Chris catch up on the state of the pandemic in Australia and America before diving into a quiz on some of the most successful marketing and advertising campaigns.

Tom Kelley talks about how the powerful Nike ad campaigns that were developed during his time at Nike and Weiden + Kennedy started with staying on mission by listening to the “voice of the athlete,” which is democratized by another element of the mission “if you have a body then you are an athlete.”

Chris asks Tom what it takes to make decisions that are bold and brave and potentially not in the short-term business interests of a large, for-profit company. Tom takes the concept further to describe the importance of courage in expressing a perspective for anyone. He also reminds us that this has been a part of Nike’s DNA since the early days with the outspoken Steve Prefontaine.

Tom talks about the importance of culture in an organization, where he thinks it comes from, and names three things that help make a culture worth being in.

Jason, Chris, & Tom discuss some of the marketing field changes over the last 10 years as direct marketing principles that have worked their way into traditional marketing are the tension of considering the consumers you serve with consumers being nodes of information and the importance of considering how you earn your way into the conversation. 

Tom discusses his time managing the Jordan Brand for Nike, including the challenge of being the steward for an already elite brand and taking it somewhere new. Tom then wraps with the next chapter in his career, starting his own firm.

Quiz soundtrack, Giulia's Chase, © 2020 by Casting Nail.

Soccer pro (Portland Thorns, Western Sydney Wanderers, Sky Blue FC) and performance coach Kendall Johnson shares why she really came on the Podcast and then dives into her five-year journey overcoming a concussion.

Kendal discusses the untapped potential in athletes in the emotional and spiritual space and society's pressure to listen to others instead of what your body is telling you. She talks about what makes Sydney so special to her and what playing in Portland's massive crowds was like.

Jason and Chris ask Kendall about what's next for her, and she talks about somatic work and her "come forward." She discusses how she uses energy more intentionally and productively in her workouts, now being her "own guru."

Quiz soundtrack, Giulia's Chase, © 2020 by Casting Nail.

Chris and Jason celebrate the "Friend of the Lab" title and lament the pain involved in repeatedly delivering a poor punch line (or watching someone else do so).

Chris quizzes Jason over the five most full democracies and the five most authoritarian regimes based on five criteria.

Then the two interview New York City mayoral candidate, Art Chang. Art talks about why he's running and spells out some specific systemic changes he plans to make to avoid past mistakes and push the city into the 21st century technologically. 

Art talks about his work for the last four mayors and his work in organizational change with JP Morgan Chase, as well as the importance of empathy in the process of making the city work for everyone.

Quiz soundtrack, Giulia's Chase, © 2020 by Casting Nail.

Chris asks how Zane came up with his amazing animations from his shows that explain complex concepts in concise periods of time. Zane explains how his shows' goals were to be as entertaining as possible and "trick us" into learning about the various cultures he experienced in his travels.

Jason tests Zane on his Japanese, and Zane explains the method to his madness. Jason speaks for his country as he often does. Zane explains how he plans to do a 90-date stand-up comedy tour that involves him performing at breweries and doing collaboration beers in each location.

Jason offers to be Zane's "fixer" for Australia. And finally, Zane busts a myth about hangover cures and shares his secret weapon that he sought after for four years. Zane closes by explaining why he's moving from travelogues to stand-up comedy. 

Tickets go on sale on St.Patrick's Day--the day this episode drops in the US!

The show gets off to a rough but hilarious start. Zane explains how he balances being a TV show host for Thee Sheets and Four Sheets, the head of an environmentally friendly clothing company, and getting ready for a nationwide stand-up comedy tour.

Zane goes deep about how to stay real without coming on too strong with your personal beliefs (except that if you hate trees, Zane thinks you should go to hell right now). Chris tells Zane he refers to him as the "Anthony Bourdain of Drinking," and Zane shares how he approves and how Bourdain was a mentor to him, along with a few stories.

The two and Zane talk about authenticity and its importance in all of Zane's endeavors. This leads to Zane talking about his preparations for his comedy performance and some lousy advice he got along the way.

Jason gives Zane a "great" grade for his episode of Chug in Sydney because he gets to real Aussies and maybe taught them a thing or two. Then the three get into the inevitable discussion of the cultural difference between Americans and Australians.

After 140 people went missing from a glacier breaking off in the Himalayan portion of India, Friend of The Lab, Tom Osdoba, drops in from France to help Jason and Chris answer the question, "How can we save the world from environmental destruction?" Jason and Chris then learn that Tom's name can be pronounced in at least two ways.

Jason puts the timeline of human impact on the Earth in perspective before Tom discusses the good news from the US rejoining the Paris Agreement and General Motors' recent commitment to develop 30 electric vehicles and add to the charging infrastructure by 2025.

Chris explores philanthropic institutions' role with technological solutions and primes the conversation with the example of the floating Pacific Ocean plastic harvester, The 8th Continent.

Tom then discusses how changing systems before attempting to persuade individuals to change is significantly more effective than the inverse approach. Chris links the system first approach to motivated reasoning to show how it helps the persuasion and change adoption process. Jason and Tom close with tips for individuals who are already motivated to be a part of the solution by revealing some actions that can make the most significant difference daily.

Jason is blown away by the period-specific intro theme, then he and Chris revisit the 1980s, including music, dyed hair, rugby shirts, and very short shorts. Jason describes how Possums in Australia are more likable and cuter than their American counterparts. Chris takes Jason through a gauntlet of the 1980s (music, sports, nuclear proliferation, movies) with a quiz.

The two then interview Author Todd Downing about his early 1980s period piece, Calico Kids. Todd shares his typical writing and audiobook development processes and his inspiration to create a Spotify playlist of deep tracks from the early 1980s that goes with the book. Todd does some myth-busting about publishing, and the three then dive into their shared experiences from their teenage years.

Introduction music, "Why" by the Rise (Paul Kreutz, Dan Plock, Bill Davis, & Chris Dominic) Copyright 1986 KPDD music.

In part 1, Jason and Chris covered the peak experience Steve Solomon had in the London Olympic games in 2012. In this episode, Steve continues by talking about his intense learning experiences in the Rio Olympic games in 2016 and the specific question he had to answer to set him up for consistent success in the future.

Steve then talks about his favorite elements of the College experience in the United States and how different it can be from Australia. Steve explains just how intense his training is, and Chris links it to his experiences with performance improvement work.

Steve then links how his experiences performing at a peak level transfer to his career at Uber Eats.

Chris and Jason wrap up with their big takeaways. Jason generates a rant from Chris with the big question, "What advice would you give to people struggling to improve?" Jason then enlightens us to the Blue Bottle jellyfish invasion that happened at Bondi Beach.

Chris returns from his second all-remote jury trial. Jason and Chris jump into the first of a two-part interview with Olympian and five-time defending Australian 400 meters champion and Olympian, Steve Solomon.

Steve admits that he's actually faster than Usain Bolt in the 400. Chris hijacks the interview and quizzes, Jason and Steve, as a team, on the subject of track and field.

Then Steve discusses performance--what has helped him and other elite athletes achieve greatness on the track and life. He also discusses how his failures have helped him learn about himself.

Jason apologizes to listeners for not landing the interview with Lesley McKenzie this week (in Japanese!), gets a crash course on Americanized surnames, and then tackles a quiz on education and colleges.

Then the two speak to Sydney University's Michael Anderson, Ph.D., about how even though education is a shadow of what it could be, there are ways to transform it that are happening now.