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.

Sharpening Your Tools to Improve Your Craft (8-11-21)

Happy Wednesday,

This is the last in the series about mastering your craft.  This week is about sharpening your tools and your skills.

One of the most important tools a chef can have is a great set of knives.  The sharp blades lead to better slicing and dicing, and the sharper the blade the more precise a chef can cut with them.  This precision leads to making a better meal.  Over time, knives will eventually become dull as they are used over and over and over again.  When this happens, a chef will take the time to sharpen them.  Doing so restores the blade and its edge, helping the tool become a better asset to the chef using it. 

What does this have to do with anything?  In our crafts we don’t necessarily use knives, but we do leverage various skills, frameworks, and tools.  How do you go about sharpening them?  I primarily rely on feedback and reflection.  First, I rely on feedback about my performance on a given task that helps me understand where I wasn’t as crisp as I wanted to be.  This helps identify those areas I need to go back and work on.  Second, I spend a lot of time reflecting.  I reflect on books I’m reading, podcasts I’ve listened to, major projects I’m working on, and the small day to day stuff that sticks out to me.  I reflect to initially capture lessons, and then I go back and revisit those lessons to continue to glean new insights.  I especially do this whenever I’m doing a task I’ve done before.  For example, when I do customer planning I’ll go back and look at my previous reflections on customer planning over the year to identify learnings to carry forward and watchouts to avoid.  Doing this keeps me sharp, and helps me slice through things like a hot knife through butter (oh snap!)

The challenge: How will you sharpen your skills, frameworks, and tools?

I stand in solidarity against injustice and in support of humanity.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Your Craft and Having the Right Tools (8-4-21)

Last week was about focusing on one thing to improve your craft.  This week we will build on that by reflecting on the tools we use in our craft.

Have you ever been over to someone’s house who really enjoys the craft of cooking?  I’m not one of those people.  I’m an okay cook, but I don’t have a desire to be great at it.  One thing I’ve always noticed about people who enjoy the craft of cooking is that they have better tools than I do.  Tools could mean pots, pans, and utensils.  Tools could mean a better grill or smoker with better fuel.  Tools could even mean higher quality of ingredients than I would normally think of purchasing.  If I would ever hope to get to their level, not only would I have to practice more, but I would need to invest in better tools.

You might be wondering where this is going.  Last week we reflected on being intentional about focusing on the right thing to improve.  One of the aspects of getting better is making sure we are investing in the right tools, because having the right tools can make a big difference.  For example, about a year ago I was doing some marketing planning for a brand and trying to figure out how to adjust approaches due to COVID and everything else going in the world.  I had no idea how to go about thinking about this until a colleague introduced me to a framework.  She has a background in futurist thinking, and since we were thinking about the future she introduced me to some tools that she learned in her training.  Now that I had better tools, I was better equipped to attack the problem.  This futurist thinking is now something I have in my toolbelt to help me with my craft of moving people.  The challenge: What tools and frameworks are you picking up to help you master your craft?

Bonus- Below is a collection of frameworks/tools/questions I’ve picked up over the years that has taken my game to the next level.

  • Playing to Win– Book about key questions to leverage to think strategically
  • Radical Candor– Book about giving feedback.
  • Six Thinking Hats– A book about how to execute PRODUCTIVE team brainstorming.
  • Atomic Habits– One of the few things about habits that have helped things stick.
  • Secret Structure of Great Talks– A TED talk about the structure of communication. Helps me shape stories.
  • Flipboard- It’s an app that curates articles based on your personal preferences.  I like to spend a few minutes on this each day seeing if I can find anything cool.
  • Karen Wurster’s Prioritization Grid- I initially used this to prioritize market research work, but have expanded and adapted it to prioritize any project. Check out this link.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cornhole and Making 1 Change to Improve Your Craft (7-28-21)

Last week was about being focused on continually improving your craft.  This week is about playing cornhole and making 1 change to improve your craft.

Every year I go on a fishing trip with my dad, brother, uncle, and cousins, and we play a lot of cornhole aka bags.  In case you’ve never played, the goal is to throw the bags and get them into the hole (for 3 points) or onto the board (for 1 point).  The first team to score 21 without going over wins.  Historically, I’ve not been great at cornhole, because I was wildly inconsistent.  Most of the time I struggled to consistently make it onto the board.  This finally changed this year.  I started out being really off, which was obviously pretty frustrating.  I tried to solve this problem by changing a lot of things at the same time.  I tried different combinations of steps/no steps, throwing motions, changing how hard I was throwing, etc.

Making all those changes didn’t help.  Finally, I realized my issue.  I was holding the bags with my thumb on top of them and for some reason this often caused me to twist my wrist when throwing.  The wrist twisting motion made my throw unpredictable.  After diagnosing this, I realized I didn’t need to change a lot of things at the same time.  I needed to make ONE meaningful adjustment, so I changed my grip.  I started holding the bags in my palm without my thumb ever touching them.  This motion stopped me from turning my wrist over so often.  The result is I got to the point where I could at least consistently get the bags on the board.  I’m still not great at cornhole, but that one small change made me SUBSTANTIALLY better. 

What does this have to do with mastering a craft?  Often when trying to master something, I look at all the ways I am deficient and try to work on them all at once.  Do you ever do that?  This tends to lead to more and more frustration, because things often don’t get better.  Over time I’ve realized that usually if I could focus all of my effort on the right thing, then making 1 key change would have a tremendous impact.  Similar to cornhole, once I focused on fixing my grip, everything else got better.  Now that I’m consistent with my grip, I can work on doing other things.

The challenge: Take a moment to reflect on your craft.  What is one change you could make that would have a meaningful impact on improving your craft?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Power of a Small Act of Kindness (7-26-21)

Bonus blog.  Something happened today that brought a smile to my face, so I hope it inspires you too.  It’s all about the power of a small act of kindness.

In general, I’ve not had the best of luck lately, way more unnecessary stress than needed.  Then, this morning was the most Monday morning I could ask for.  My 9 year old was spitting teenage level sass and emotional fire.  I spent the morning addressing issues I thought I addressed last week.  A billing mess up is trying to cost me a few extra hundred dollars.  Not a great start to the week.

I’m in the midst of my crappy morning, knocking out emails, and I get a phone call from a number I don’t know.  I assume it’s the people to talk about the billing situation, so I’m mentally ready for a not so great convo.  Then the person says, “This is Kelly from Uber Eats.”  I hadn’t ordered anything from Uber Eats, so I assumed it was a scam.  Turns out, it was a surprise delivery!  I open the box of doughnuts and it has a nice little note on the inside.  I smiled, had a doughnut, and that one small act of kindness was enough to turnaround an entire day.  I’m now fully refreshed, fully carb loaded, and ready to go! 😉

What does this have to do with anything?  We all have the power to be kind.  We all have the ability to make one small gesture towards another human in our lives.  You never know.  Maybe that person is having a tough time and your small gesture will completely pick them up out of their bad mood.  Maybe that person is already doing pretty well, and your one kind gesture will give them even more feel good energy.  The challenge: Perform one small act of kindness for someone else today.

  • Write and send a thank you note.
  • Surprise a stranger by buying them a Starbucks drink or paying for their food at a restaurant.
  • Send an email with a cool meme telling someone you appreciate them.
  • Record and send a video of you telling someone how much you care about them.
  • Surprise someone with an Uber Eats delivery

Side note, you might be wondering if my girls will get any of the doughnuts.  I make no promises or guarantees…😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Putting in Work to Master Your Craft (7-21-21)

Last week was about identifying what your craft is.  This week is about putting in the work to master your craft.  It’s inspired by my niece, Shelby.

Shelby has always loved hair.  She had done it for herself and friends, and about a year ago she decided to pursue it as a career.  This was her craft, her calling.  I’m not sure how she would describe doing hair as a craft, but I’d say it’s all about harnessing the power of transformation.  While Shelby already had some talent and skill, she had a desire to master her craft.  About a year ago, she started cosmetology school where she  learned new haircut techniques, color combinations, and other tips and tricks.  Every single day she was working to get better.  The picture above is work my niece did for my wife.  I know I’m biased, but I think it looks AMAZING.  My niece wouldn’t have been able to do that on Day 1, but through the constant striving to be better she’s improved and is at a higher level now than when she started.  Now she’s graduated and getting ready to start in a salon, but she’s not done growing.  She’s still learning.  Still trying to get better.  She’s constantly working to master her craft.  (#soproudofher)

What does this have to do with anything?  Shelby identified her craft and then went somewhere to work on her craft to get better.  I don’t know about you, but I allow myself to get stagnant sometimes.  I get so caught up in the day to day of life that I stop trying to learn.  I also get caught up in, “Well, I’ve done this before, so I’m already great at this.”  As a result of all of this, sometimes  I stop striving to get better.  Do you ever fall into that trap?  Last week we explored how our craft is so much deeper and more powerful than our job.  I believe that in our hearts, all of our crafts somehow connect to making the world better.  If this is the case, we can’t afford to stop growing and learning.

The challenge: Are you putting in the work to master your craft?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

What is your craft? (7-14-21)

This week we will kick off a series about identifying and honing our crafts.  This first entry is about understanding your craft is more than just your job.

Recently I ordered a flight of beer from the brewpub.  When the bartender brought the flight over he explained how some of the beers were new, and then he asked if he could share some additional insight.  He went on to explain more about the new beers, and he offered perspective about the order in which I should try them.  He shared more about how the beers were made and some of the unique properties they had.  I took his suggestions, and noticed things I would have never picked up on my own.  It was delicious!

So what does this have to do with understanding what your craft it?  You could say that the bartender’s craft is making drinks.  However, this bartender understands that his craft goes beyond the physical act of making and serving beverages.  His craft is about creating experiences.  His insight and perspective changed the way I experienced the flight of beer, and I’m thankful for it.  His craft isn’t just the physical thing he does.  There’s a deeper meaning and power to what he does. 

What’s your craft?  I work in marketing, so you might say marketing is my craft.  That would be true to an extent, but I believe it’s more than that.  I believe my craft is moving people.  My unique genius and collection of skills, art, and science are all focused on connecting with people and moving them to feel something and/or take action.  This craft shows up in so many things I do whether it’s writing this blog, performing poetry, creating marketing strategies, uncovering market research insights, and the way I interact with folks on a daily basis.

The challenge: What is your craft?  How is it the same and/or different from your job?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

New Work Normal, Cold Water, and Change (7-12-21)

Hope you had a fabulous holiday. For some of us, this is our first day back in the “new normal” of work, so I wanted to commemorate this day with the last entry in our series about returning to work.  This week is about cold water and sticking it out through change.

My family went for a day trip to the Dunes at the end of May.  The beach was beautiful.  The water was COLD.  I tested out the water myself, and it was way too chilly for me to stay out there.  I lasted 3 seconds before I ran back to my chair on the beach.  However, my girls were tougher than me.  The moment my girls stepped into the water they shrieked, but instead of running away they stayed.  As they stayed, their body got more and more used to the water and the temperature.  Over time, they fully acclimated and then they were able to enjoy the water.  They ended up having an amazing time swimming and splashing around.

What does this have to do with anything?  Cold water is a lot like change.  When you step into change, it’s not exactly welcoming.  Change might feel too cold or too hot or too different.  The first instinct is to step out of change as quickly as possible, to get away from that uncomfortable sensation.  Do you ever find yourself leaning away from change instead of leaning into change?  I know I do. 

Through experience I’ve learned that if you can stay in the lake of change and allow yourself to get acclimated, then you can begin to find a way to enjoy what life is evolving into.  This isn’t easy.  It requires you to leave your place of comfort on the safe shoreline.  It requires you to be willing to be uncomfortable and to remain uncomfortable for some time.  Right now we are all trying to adjust to something different as we begin to figure out what works looks like for us moving forward, and we have to be willing to be patient and work through this change if we wish to come out better on the other side.

The challenge: Will you be brave enough to stay in the waters of change?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

New Work Normal- Awkwardness and Middle School Dances (6-30-21)

Last week was about embracing inclusion in hybrid work environments.  This week is about middle school and embracing awkwardness.

I don’t know about you, but some of the most awkward moments of my life were middle school dances.  Let me set the scene.  There I am as an 8th grader with my retainer and bowl cut.  I’m standing in a cafeteria turned into a dance floor with a bunch of other people I go to school with.  There is music blasting.  No one there really knows who they are.  No one there really knows what to do.  So we all awkwardly stand around in circles in our friend groups too scared to violate any invisible social norm that somehow might make us less cool.  At least that was MY middle school dance experience.  What was yours like?  Anyway, I wish that we would have all been brave enough to admit how awkward and silly this entire thing was.  If we could have put the issue out on the table it would have broken the ice, and we all would have had a better time.

So what does this have to do with going back to work?  I don’t know about you, I’m a little anxious about navigating all of the social situations when we get back to the office.  I’m a strange cat on a good day.  Then, you throw in rejoining society after a pandemic and being around a large group of people when I haven’t seen them in 1.5 years, and it’s going to be all kinds of awkward.  I’M SO EXCITED to see people.  At the same time, I know things will be weird.  When we see each other do we shake hands?  Do we hug?  Do we elbow bump?  Do I lead with the fist bump and hope people don’t reject or ignore it?  Is it weird to open a conversation with, “What have you done with the past 1.5 years of your life?”  Will people be annoyed if I come up to their desk to say hi after having 1.5 years of not being interrupted in that way, or will they be happy to be around other humans?  So many questions, so much potential for awkwardness.

Similar to the awkwardness of middle school dances, I hope that we can just all be honest that things are going to be a little weird for a while.  If we can all admit this, then that will likely be the ice breaking we need to make everyone a little more comfortable.  The challenge: Will you be brave enough to claim and embrace the awkwardness?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Intentional Inclusion in Hybrid Work Environments (6-23-21)

Last week was about empathy.  This week is about intentional inclusion in hybrid environments.  We’ll look at this idea by exploring a different situation where I had to adjust my behaviors to be more inclusive of workstyles to help bring out the best in everyone.

When it comes to participating in meetings there tends to be two types of people, talkers and processors.  Talkers jump right in to verbally talk through problems, while processors prefer to take their time to think through things before speaking.  I’m a talker and tend to expect people to just jump in and start talking through ideas just like me.  One day I realized that the way I was running meetings led to the talkers drowning out the processors.  This meant we couldn’t capitalize on the great ideas that the processors had.  Now I could have just asked the processors to change, but it’s NOT on them.  It’s on ME as a leader to create the inclusive environment to bring out the best in folks.  I needed to change.  I became more disciplined about sharing meeting agendas and discussion questions ahead of time to give everyone time to think through and form their ideas.  I focused on facilitating the conversation in a way to have more thoughtful conversation from everyone vs. telling people to just jump in.  As a result, we had better discussions and outputs.

What does this have to do with the new working situation?  In the above example, I had to be aware that my actions weren’t creating an environment to get the most out of everyone.  From there, it was on me to take the right ACTION to create a more inclusive environment that could give people what they needed to feel safe and be better able to contribute.  In a similar way, once we get back to the office in this hybrid format, we ALL will need to take new action to include everyone (live and remote).  Ultimately, we will need to be more INTENTIONAL about how we build teams, structure meetings, and get work done to create an environment that is inclusive and brings out the best in EVERYONE whether they are live or remote.  The challenge: How will you be more inclusive in our new “work normal”? 

Bonus blunt challenge: You might have noticed I didn’t mention technology in how we need to adapt.  Having the right technology that works is incredibly important.  However, having the right technology does NOT matter, if we don’t have the right inclusive mindset and aren’t changing the way we lead and do things.  Having the right technology without a change in behavior just means we will have a fancier and more technologically advanced way of NOT creating inclusive cultures that bring out the best in us.  How can we ensure we are upgrading our leadership behaviors while we upgrade our technology?

Side note/pet peeve- Talkers tend to be extroverts and processors tend to be introverts.  We always tell introverts to jump in and talk more.  Why don’t we ever ask the extroverts to quiet down and create space for others to talk?  Things that make you go hmmmm…

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

New Work Normal- Cruises, Individual Experiences, and Empathy (6-15-21)

Last week was about reimaging our “new normal” at work.  This week is about cruises and being empathetic about how people might experience this “new normal” differently. 

Recently a friend told my wife she was going on vacation.  The friend mentioned she was being “forced” into a cruise.  My wife chuckled, because she loves cruises.  She then turned to the friend and said, “Forced, huh?  Sounds horrible!” in a joking manner.  The friend responded and said she actually doesn’t like cruises.  Cruises make them feel like they are trapped, because they don’t have control over the boat.  My wife would have never imagined this, since she enjoys cruises.

What does this have to do with anything?  In the above story my wife and her friend were talking about the same event, going on a cruise.  However, they have radically different experiences going through the same thing.  In a similar manner, as we transition to our “new normal” at work, we will all be going through the same event, but that doesn’t mean we will all be having the same experience.  Some people are really excited to go back and see folks in person again.  Some people now have to navigate running a family while returning to the office.  Their lives are about to become more hectic, so they are anxious.  Some people found that working from home gave them more energy, because days of face to face meetings are draining.  They might feel intimidated to go back.  Some people moved away from the corporate headquarters and back to their hometowns to be closer to family.  They now have to make the difficult choice of whether they move back to headquarters or work more remotely, and contemplate what that means for their career.

There are a wide variety of ways people might feel about returning to work.  We will all go back to our “new normal,” but we won’t all have the same experience.  We need to extend grace and empathy to better understand each other and what we might be going through.  Then, once we have that understanding, we need to figure out how to support each other based on that person’s needs. 

The challenge: How will you show grace and empathy during this time?  How will you support others?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry