It’s easy to decide what to do next. It’s much harder to decide what to stop. In this episode of The Fault Line, Kim Scribner and Gary Lancina dig into why we pile more onto our plates, and why “busy” has become a badge of honor.

They cover the habits and false urgency that keep us doing work that no longer matters, the burnout risk for high performers who keep getting handed more, and the emotional pull of staying “fully loaded.” Along the way, they share stories of the weekly report nobody read, the zombie project that kept coming back, and the moment a product’s returns start to flatten. They also talk about practical ways to create space: pausing instead of quitting, reducing frequency, separating glass balls from rubber balls, and asking “what’s changed since we last said yes?”

Whether you’re leading a team or trying to protect your own focus, this conversation will make you rethink what’s worth your time.

How much data is actually enough to make a call? In this episode of The Fault Line, Kim Scribner and Gary Lancina break down the difference between KPIs, leading indicators, and the metrics that actually drive action — plus why cluttered dashboards often signal busyness, not clarity.

The real focus: sufficiency. Gary shares stories from CPG and hypergrowth startups where "we need more data" turned out to be fear or ego in disguise — including a price decision that took two years to approve, despite data everyone already had. They also dig into AI's growing role in decision-making and how to build a culture where people are trusted to act before the picture is perfectly complete.

What happens when a consultant does too good a job? In this Fault Line Short, Kim Scribner sits down with Aniela Larson to unpack the tricky dynamic between consultants and the sponsors who hire them — and why doing less might actually be the more valuable service.

Drawing on the neuroscience of change, Aniela explains why friction is essential to real behavior change, and how "expert mode" can quietly rob clients of the ownership they need to sustain results. Kim and Aniela dig into the IKEA effect (why we value what we build with our own hands more than what's handed to us), the "watch one, do one, teach one" model borrowed from medical training, and the subtle language cues — like "you" instead of "we" — that signal an engagement is headed for trouble.

Whether you're a consultant navigating scope creep, a leader trying to get the most out of an outside partner, or just curious how lasting change actually sticks, this conversation offers a candid look at what it really takes to hand ownership back to the people who need it.