Author: Andrew Embry

If you mixed diet mountain dew, funk music, dragons, hip hop, superheroes, and lightning in a blender you’d end up with Andrew Embry. He is part wordsmith and part alchemist, able to use his Batman utility belt to turn anything and everything into a story worth telling that is equal parts insightful, memorable, inspiring, humorous, and entertaining. Andrew is comfortably creative in almost any setting, but especially when he is performing spoken word poetry. His enthusiasm for words comes from the way he loves people and the little nuances of life that make it worth living.

Super Mario 3D World and Working Together (4-6-23)

Last week was about video games and diagnosing the situation before offering any advice. This week is about Super Mario 3D World and the challenges of working together.

Super Mario 3D World is our latest 4 player family video game. It’s a cute adventure with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach who work together to stop Bowser. It’s also an INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING game at times. How can something so cute and joyous be so frustrating? It’s all because the actions of the characters impact each other, so it’s easy to get blindsided and knocked off track. You might run into another character and accidentally knock them off the edge to their doom. You might go to one side of the screen, making the screen follow you, so no one else can see what they are doing, leading to their death. You might get lost in all of the chaos and get ambushed by a lowly goomba. In order to survive, we have to be able to look at our own character and how everyone else is moving. We also have to spend a lot of time coordinating and communicating. Sometimes, we even have to pause the game to talk about what we need to do, so we are all on the same page. This is the only way to capture the flag at the end of each level to advance.

What if work is just like Super Mario 3D World? Think about it. You have multiple players with various skill levels who all have their own power-ups and abilities. Everyone is racing to a goal. Your actions impact you and others around you and vice versa. Have you ever been blindsided by actions of a “player”? Maybe, you’ve been hit by an unexpected process at the worst time. Maybe, you were trying to zig, while everyone else was zagging. Maybe, you had a deadline ambush you from behind a corner. Maybe, you made a decision that had unintended ramifications down the road. I know all these things have happened to me. Like my family playing Super Mario 3D World, in order to be successful you have to understand your role AND look at the big picture to see how it all fits together with other players. You need to spend time communicating with the other players. Sometimes, you might even have to pause and slow things down to ensure everyone is aligned on the end goal. That’s the only way to win.

The challenge: How are you integrating with all of the players in your game? What are you doing to ensure everyone is working together?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Video Games and Diagnosing the Situation (3-29-23)

This week we are going to kick off a series inspired by video games I’ve played with my kids. This week is about diagnosing the situation before offering any coaching or guidance.

The other day my kids were playing Shovel Knight, and they were struggling with a boss. It would have been easy to take the controller from them and do it myself, but that wouldn’t help them develop skills. Whenever I see them struggling, I go through a series of questions to identify the problem. First, I ask them what they are trying to accomplish. If they are clear here, we move to the second question, and I ask them if they even want to accomplish that thing. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they just want to do other side missions for fun. Assuming they want to accomplish the goal, I go to the third question, and I ask them if they know HOW to accomplish the goal. Assuming they are good here, I go to the final question and ask if they are capable of doing the thing. Turns out they knew what to achieve and wanted to do it, they just didn’t know HOW to do it. Once I helped them there, they had the physical skills to do so, and they ended up defeating the boss and advancing.

You might be wondering where this is going. In the video game example above, I give my kids guidance, based on the specific issue they have. For example, building their skills to do something is very different from helping them gain clarity on the objective. There is a sequence of things we need to work through, so they can perform at their best and I need to meet them where they are. Now reflect on work for a moment. When you give advice/coaching to someone, do you ever jump right in without fully understanding the situation? I’ve done this. What happens when you do this? I’ve found that when I jump right in without diagnosing the situation, I often solve the wrong problem. If I solve the wrong problem, then the advice/coaching is not relevant, and the issue still isn’t solved.

The challenge- Will you take the time to diagnose the situation before providing advice/coaching?

Bonus 1: My flow chart of questions to diagnose the issue.

Bonus 2: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is an AWESOME indie game. It’s kind of like a different take on Megaman. I’d highly recommend it.

Bonus 3: This blog is partially inspired by takeaways from the book: Coaching for Improved Work Performance by Ferdinand Fournies. The book helps you be more methodical in diagnosing issues.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Performing a Personal Quarterly Check-in (3-22-23)

This is a one-off entry about taking the time to do a quarterly review in business in life. This is inspired by a blog I wrote last year around this time.

I don’t know about you, but I feel my meetings this week have all went like this, “Let’s talk about how X went in Q1. Here is the performance. Let’s take a moment to celebrate some of our wins. Now, what gaps do we still see? We need to start addressing those gaps now, while we still have time. What plan can we put in place and what actions do we need to take to gain/keep momentum?” It didn’t matter if the topic was brand performance, tactic creation, finances, or executing on the plan for the rest of the year. For whatever reason, now seems like a perfect time to take a moment to pause, evaluate, and figure out what we need to do next.

What does this have to do anything? While this is great for work, we could apply this same thinking to our personal lives as well. What are some of your goals for 2023? How did you do with them in Q1? Have you stopped to CELEBRATE your progress? SERIOUSLY, I hope you are celebrating something. If you are reading this, I know you’re doing something cool. Whether you are doing something small or large, you’re definitely doing something worth celebrating. After you get done celebrating, what gaps do you see? How can you address them NOW, so you can see the payoff later this year?

The challenge: Will you take the time to do a quarterly check-in? What changes will you make to set yourself up for the rest of the year?

Bonus: Here is my review based on the dimensions in my life I set goals for. Hopefully, it sparks a thought or two for you.

Protecting my Peace (B)- This is my overall goal for the year. This is about ensuring I’m making the time to take care of me and putting the right boundaries in place. Things did get busy at times in Q1. However, I’m proud of myself for prioritizing sleep, saying no to certain things at work, and taking steps to release the stress of day-to-day life. I just need to focus on taking care of myself.
Career (A)- The goal is to feel like I’m delivering magic. I feel proud of my start in Q1, and I feel valued right now. I delivered on some great projects and partnered with some amazing folks to deliver an awesome National meeting, strategy, and IVA. For me, it’s all about keeping up this momentum. I can do this by being crystal clear on my priorities and carving out some time to whiteboard and think through a few things before shifting hard into execution mode.
Physical Health (B-)- The goal is to make sure I’m taking good care of myself, so I can do the things I want to be able to do. I did good on the sleeping, and I’m proud of myself for completing my race in January. I have two gaps. One is better fueling my body in a healthy way on a more consistent basis. I probably stress ate more than I should. Good news is that I’ve kicked my Diet Pepsi habit, and now am starting to find a groove. The other gap is I need more upper body strength, so I can complete more obstacles. I need to do more pull-ups and work in grip training. I have a plan for that, just need to execute.
Financial (C)- The goal is to hit our financial savings goals. We haven’t fully established what those are, so will need to do that before I can take action.
Family (B)- The goal is to feel like an amazing husband and dad. Parenting has just been hard for a wide variety of reasons with a slew of challenges my wife and I are still trying to figure out how to navigate. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably been here. Also, over the past month, I’ve put in a lot more hours at work (especially on the weekends), which has upset a little bit of the work/life integration. I’m hoping to better balance that out, so I can focus more on connecting with my family.
Fun/Social (A)- The goal here is to plan out vacation days. Everything is booked for the year, and I’m looking forward to family trips, a fishing trip, and some “race”cations.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Disney and Being On Task vs. On-Purpose (3-15-23)

This will be the last in the series about lessons I learned from the Disney Institute. This week is about being on task vs. being on-purpose.

At the Disney Parks and Resorts, employees are united by a common purpose, “We create happiness by providing the best in entertainment for people of all ages everywhere.” It’s a purpose they aspire to live every single day. This is part of the secret behind the Disney magic. We talked about this with the Disney Institute as it related to people and their day-to-day jobs. The Disney Institute explained the concept of on-task vs. on-purpose, and how it was okay for someone to be off-task if they were on-purpose. For example, a member of the custodial crew might have the task to clean the sidewalk. However, if a family approaches them and asks them for directions, that same cast member might stop sweeping the sidewalk to lead an impromptu parade to the location. The cast member isn’t fulfilling their daily tasks, but they are doing the more important work of living their purpose and creating happiness for the guests.

What does this have to do with anything? There are a lot of different ways to think about on task vs. on-purpose. In a perfect world, all tasks would align with a bigger purpose. This may not always be the case though, because there are tasks in any job that we just need to get done (#expensereports 😉). At the same time, it’s easy for the day-to-day job to become just a collection of tasks that lacks connection to purpose. It’s easy to get lost in to-do lists and activity for the sake of activity. Do you ever fall into this trap? I do. When I fall into this trap, I eventually realize that I might be doing things, but many of them aren’t attached to a larger purpose so they don’t mean much. While completing tasks might be easier to measure, many of the on-purpose activities that have the most important impact are the hardest to quantify. For example, building culture and teams is being on-purpose, because it enables to deliver better outcomes but how do you measure that? Challenging processes and cultural norms to deliver better outcomes for customers is on-purpose, but difficult to track. This idea of being on task vs. on-purpose and how that connects to our work is definitely worth thinking about.

The challenge: What is YOUR ideal balance of being on task vs. on-purpose?

Bonus 1: As you think about being on-purpose, you can look at that through multiple lenses too. Are you doing work that aligns with your organization’s purpose? Your team’s purpose? Your own purpose?

Bonus 2: All of this talk about purpose reminded me of something I did my senior year of college. Professor Skinner (one of the best professors ever) had us create our own personal mission statements, and then she laminated them for us. This has been in my wallet for about 16 years now. It’s a little wordy 😉 But my focus on enriching the lives of the people I meet still rings true and drives a lot of what I do in and outside of work. If you haven’t ever taken the time to make your own mission statement, you should think about doing so. It’s a great exercise.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Secret Behind the Disney Magic (3-8-23)

Happy Wednesday,

Last week was about employee engagement and pixie dust. This week is about the secret behind the Disney magic.

When people talk about Disney, they also usually talk about the magic of Disney. Magic is that little something extra that makes the moment enjoyable and memorable. It could be a Disney staff member stepping in at just the right moment to turn a wrong into a right. It might be a little surprise waiting for you in a Disney resort. It might be the feeling you get as you walk through Galaxy’s Edge and see your favorite Star Wars characters coming to life. You would think that incredible moments like this would only happen once in a while, but at Disney they happen quite often.

Do you want to know a secret? Technically, anyone could do the same thing that Disney does. It’s not magic. Instead, it’s being extremely INTENTIONAL about creating amazing customer experience. They design the place, processes, and choose the right people who all combine to routinely create memorable magic for folks. They think through every touchpoint, every opportunity, and determine how to instill magic in that moment. There is no top secret patented magic formula. Other companies could do these things. They choose not to.

What does this have to do with anything? Think about the experiences you deliver to other employees. Do they contain magic? Are there moments that make the person on the receiving end, pause and smile because they feel so seen and valued? The best leaders I have ever been around found a way to consistently deliver this magic. It wasn’t anything incredibly fancy. It wasn’t anything that others couldn’t do. They delivered this magic, because they were intentional and consistent day in and day out. Now think about the experiences you’re delivering to customers. Do any of those have magic in them? What would it take to make more of these customer experiences feel magical?

The challenge: How can you be more intentional about creating magical moments for other employees and for customers?

Bonus- Speaking of magic, I recently performed this poem at our Neuroscience National Meeting. If you want a little fire and inspiration, give it a listen. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-embry-979831b7_whowantstheball-poetry-poetryatwork-activity-7037083285360975873-V3hz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Employee Engagement and Pixie Dust (3-1-23)

Last week we kicked off a series of lessons I learned from the Disney Institute. This week is about employee engagement and pixie dust.

During our session with the Disney Institute, we spent time talking about creating that Disney magic (more on that in future blogs) and how it requires buy-in and effort from employees at all levels of the organization. One of my colleagues raised their hand and asked a question along the lines of this, “It seems that everyone across industries is struggling with having the right talent and things like quiet quitting and employee engagement. I’d assume that you need to have engaged employees to create this Disney magic, so how does Disney handle challenges with employee engagement?” The facilitator responded with, “That’s a good question. The first thing to acknowledge is that everyone loses their pixie dust from time to time. No one is 100% dedicated and on track all the time. When someone loses their pixie dust, they need to pause to figure out what it is they need. Also, it’s the job of their leader to step in to see what they need to get going again. It’s not easy. It requires intentional attention.”

How does this connect with anything? While I’d like to think that I’m filled with magic on most days, I’d be lying if I told you that I come into work every single day on fire with purpose and passion. I’d be lying if I told you that I was actively engaged every second of every single day over my 15-year career. Sometimes, I lose my pixie dust. Do you? I’ve learned over time that it’s easy to beat yourself up when you lose your pixie dust, but it doesn’t help. What has helped me is taking the time to figure out why my pixie dust is gone. Maybe, I’m having a difficult time outside of work, and what I need is some grace and understanding. Maybe, I’m dealing with a process that is sucking out my soul (sound familiar?), and I need leadership to help us alter or remove this process. Maybe, I’m burned out, and I need to do something to help myself recharge. Maybe, I’ve lost my connection with my purpose, and I need to find that again. The bottom line is, that losing pixie dust doesn’t make you bad. It means you’re human. The best leaders I’ve ever worked for are the ones who understand this. The best leaders I’ve ever worked for help me find my pixie dust when it’s missing.

The challenge: Do a check-in. How are your pixie dust levels? As a leader, what do your people need to help them find their pixie dust when it’s lost?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Disney, Eating, Leadership, and Setting the Tone (2-22-23)

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Description automatically generated with low confidence Happy Wednesday,

This week we are going to kick off a series about lessons I learned from the Disney Institute last year when I attended as a Team Lilly Ambassador. We will start with a story about eating, leadership, and setting the tone. The inspiration behind this week’s entry comes from Kip Chase’s wife.

It was the first night and we were at the restaurant. The food was set up, but no one was eating. Kip Chase noticed that people were just kind of awkwardly waiting. He nudged me and loudly says, “I’m going to grab some food, everybody let’s go eat.” I declare that I’m Kip’s first follower, and we grab food together😉. The moment Kip grabs the first morsel, other folks start lining up and grabbing food too. As we do this, Kip shares a story with me that goes something like this, “Sometimes you have to be the first to let others know it’s okay to start. It’s like taking friends out to dinner. You order the steak, so they know it’s okay to order steak too.” I was like, “Man, that’s good!” Then, Kip revealed that he learned that from his wife. I’m not saying that makes his wife better than him, but I’m not not saying it either. #loveyoubuddy

What does this have to do with anything? This is a story about someone taking the lead and setting the tone through their actions. Kip was the default leader in this scenario, and people followed his lead. One of the most important things a leader does is set the tone with their teams. Their actions and inaction drive what is and isn’t acceptable in a culture. I’ve been on teams where EVERYONE was always striving to improve and do better, because the leader set appropriate standards and drove accountability. I’ve been on teams where people were okay with lower levels of performance, because the leader didn’t expect quality work and didn’t hold people accountable. I’ve been on teams where I could be open and vulnerable, because the leader demonstrated those qualities on a regular basis. I’ve also been on teams where I didn’t feel comfortable being that way because the leader either never showed vulnerability or shut down open and honest conversations. Do any of these sound familiar to you? In these situations, people looked to their leader to see what tone they were setting and then responded accordingly. Think about your favorite and not so favorite leaders. What tones were they setting with their actions or inaction?

The challenge: Think about yourself. What tone are you setting with your actions or inaction?

Bonus-Kip probably never thought that a random story told over a buffet would stick with me. That’s one of the other parts of leadership. You never quite know how influential your words will be, and how people will latch onto different things.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Legos and Building and Rebuilding Ourselves (2-15-23)

This will be the final entry in the Lego series. We’ve looked at Legos as they relate to details/the big picture, evidence and trust, and mistakes being the beginning of something. This week is about Lego bricks and building and rebuilding ourselves.

The picture to the right is a bin filled with Legos. They come in all different sizes and shapes. Some are short. Some are long. Some are wheels. Some are oddly shaped. Some are bricks. Some are characters. Eventually, they are all brought together to build something. Maybe you build a robot or a car or a house or something else entirely. The beauty in all of this is that we can use those same blocks to build and rebuild over and over again, each time building something new and unique. You can take those exact same blocks and build masterpieces, only limited by your imagination.

What does this have to do with anything? What if I told you that your life is just a bunch of Lego bricks. All of the elements of who you are and all of the things you ever experienced are merely Lego bricks. Some are beautiful. Some are sad. Some are joyous. Some are painful. Some are quirky and unexpected. Some are calming. All of these “bricks” live inside of you. The beauty is that you have the ability to build and rebuild yourself over and over again. This is the beauty of being human. We’re not stagnant. We are always building. We always have the ability to rebuild ourselves and help rebuild each other. We can create glorious messy human masterpieces, only limited by our own imaginations. If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.

The challenge: What will you build with the Lego bricks of your life?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Legos, Mistakes, and How You Respond (2-8-23)

Last week was about Legos, evidence, and trust. This week is about Legos, mistakes, and how you respond. This entry is inspired by a story from Tacey Boucher.

Tacey reached out to me after the first Lego entry and shared this story. “Rob built the Mandalorian Razor Crest recently. It WAS missing an important piece. He was disappointed and concerned he’d have to fight or pay to get the piece. He contacted them and their response back was a letter detailing how the Empire had sabotaged their supply lines, but they had found another path and his piece would soon arrive. Rob was all smiles…it was suddenly almost worth it that the piece had been missing and the build was delayed. He thanked them for their reply and immediately got back a simple response: ‘This is the way.’” Not going to lie, after hearing that story I kind of want to tell Lego that they lost my Batman pieces just to see what cool stuff would happen. 😉

What does this have to do with anything? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get it in my head that making the mistake is the end of the story. If I make a mistake, then everything else stops, and that situation is remembered as the time I screwed up. This mindset prevents me from taking chances and driving myself and others to be better. Do you ever find yourself in this mindset?

This week’s story is a reminder that making a mistake does not have to be the end. Instead, making a mistake can be a powerful turning point in the story. Lego made a mistake, owned it, and made it up to Rob in a caring and compassionate way. Since hearing this story from Tacey I’ve told dozens of people, and now I’m sharing it with you because it’s so powerful. The story is no longer about Lego making a mistake. It’s about how they responded. In a similar way, some of the most powerful work experiences are when I have made a mistake, and then responded in a powerful way or when someone else has fallen short only to get up and start kicking some butt. Does that ring true for you?

The challenge: How will you respond when you make a mistake?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lego, Building Evidence, and Trust (2-1-23)

Last week was about Legos and the importance of BOTH the details and big picture. This week is about Legos, evidence, and trust.

I am very methodical when I do my Lego builds. I sort out the pieces into containers and then gather the required pieces for the step before ever connecting anything. Sometimes, I can’t initially find the piece I’m looking for. When this happens, I immediately assume that I either missed it or I have done something to lose it vs. Lego not having the right pieces. I assume this, because I have COMPLETE faith and trust in Lego. I’ve built dozens of their kits over my lifetime. I can count on them to ALWAYS have the right pieces and the right instructions to build something amazing. As a result, I trust Lego and their process. I can’t say I feel the same way about Lego knock-off companies. I’ve built with them before, and there have been missing pieces, bad instructions, etc. Those other non-Lego companies have never given me a reason to trust them, but they’ve asked me to anyway.

What does this have to do with anything? There are a couple of parallels we can draw. First, we can look at people in our life. How many of them are trustworthy Lego vs. the untrustworthy knock-off competitors? When have you been Lego vs. the knock-off competitors? I know I’ve played both roles. What can we do to become even more trustworthy?

The other connection is around this idea of “You just need to give it a chance. You just need to trust the process.” I feel this is something that is often said in Corporate America when there is some organizational change or pivot. I’ve always found this interesting, because it puts the burden on me to buy into something that isn’t proven. My question is always, “Why should I trust the process?” I’m not saying we should all be cynical and doubt everything. I do think it’s fair to expect evidence for claims that are being made. “Why should I trust that process? What has the organization shown me that makes me believe it will all work out?” If you’re leading any kind of organizational change management, the burden is on YOU to establish the reasons why someone should buy in. I trust Lego and its process, because its actions have earned that trust over time. As you lead organizational change management, have you and/or your team earned that trust to “follow the process” over time?

The challenges: How can we become more trustworthy? If you’re leading organizational change, what are YOU doing to provide evidence for why someone should trust the process?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry