Mario Kart and Choosing the Right Set up for the Task (8-13-25)

Mario Kart 8 Kart Customization

Happy Wednesday,

Recently, my family and I have got back into playing Mario Kart 8 on Switch, which is the inspiration behind this blog series. Our first entry will be about choosing the right set up for the task in front of you.

In case you’re not familiar with Mario Kart, here is how it works. You choose from a collection of Super Mario characters along with a variety of vehicle, tire, and glider options. These choices impact your speed, acceleration, weight, handling, and off-road capabilities. Here was my predicament. Typically, I would choose characters and set ups that were higher on speed and not so much on acceleration. This was great at the lower difficulty levels. Then, once I got to 200cc, I was no longer able to have success with this set up. I slid off courses, struggled, and ultimately lost. As I reflected, I realized that 200cc is more about stopping and going vs staying at a continual top speed. My builds focused on speed may have worked in previous situations, but now I was facing a different challenge. I needed to adapt. Maxing out speed was no longer serving me. Instead, I needed to choose characters, carts, tires, and gliders that would give me high acceleration. Once I switched to this new set up, I started winning!

Making connections. Work is a lot like Mario Kart. We have different options of tools and skillsets we can use to solve problems. Over time, we find set ups that we become comfortable with that we can use over and over again. This serves us well, until things change. Then, our tried and true methods are no longer effective. Has this ever happened to you? You better believe it’s happened to me. From time to time, we need to take a step back to understand the problem we are solving for. From time to time, we need to take a step back and ask whether our current tools and skills are the right ones to solve this problem.

The challenge: Will you be willing to switch your set up when the environment and challenges around you change?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Alice, the Science Fair, and Doing Things Herself (3-18-20)

I hope you are all strong and healthy. Last week was about shaping the environment as leaders. This week is about Alice, the science fair, and doing things herself.

Last year Alice was a first grader and she asked to do the science fair. My wife and I told her no, because we didn’t want to be the ones who ended up doing the project for her. We told her she could enter the science fair in second grade, but she would do the work. This year, Alice entered the science fair where she tested what would happen to green bean plants when she watered them with different liquids including water, tea, coffee, Gatorade, gasoline, vegetable oil, and milk.

While my wife and I were there to help teach Alice, she was the one who did the work. I was so proud of her for all the hard work she put in. However, if I’m being honest, the science fair drove my wife and I a bit crazy. Have you ever watched a second grader type? It took her years to type out paragraphs, and it took everything we had not to just type it for her. Have you ever watched a second grader try to use a mouse and Excel? She wanted to make graphs, so I taught her how to type in the data and how to highlight the data to make a graph. Watching her actually go through those steps was like having something slowly eat away at my brain. Deep down inside, I just wanted to do the things, because it would have been faster. However, If I would have done the things for her, she wouldn’t have learned anything. Now she has skills and abilities that she didn’t have a few weeks ago, because we taught her vs. did it for her.

What does this have to do with work? Coaching and developing people is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. With that said, how often do we invest the time it takes to teach and help people grow vs. jumping in and taking control? Helping someone grow takes time, a lot of time. Just like my situation with Alice, watching someone struggle to get something is painful, and you could definitely do it faster and better than they could. I don’t know about you, but I know that there have been times I’ve jumped in and done things FOR someone vs. helping them learn how to do it. The problem is that if I am always jumping in to do it for them, they can never learn on their own. This will lead them to be dependent on me, and they’ll never be able to evolve into the person and employee they were meant to be.

The challenge: Are you investing the time with people to help them grow and develop?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Will you Disappear or Show Up? (3-13-20)

Image result for bright spot Happy Friday,

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately, and I’d like to share something with all of you. Yesterday I was talking to someone about all of the crazy stuff going on with the Coronavirus, work, and life right now. It brought me back to things I learned from a leader I worked with about how leaders act in times of change and the impact that has.

We were in the beginning of a reorganization and this leader told me something along the lines of, “I’ve been through this a few times and I’ve seen how this will play out. Sooner or later all of this will die down and we will move forward. After all of this has settled, people won’t necessarily remember all of the details around these events, but they will remember who STEPPED UP and who DISAPPEARED when they were needed most. Watch. Some leaders will shrink in times like this, and they won’t realize it now but they will be hurting the trust they’ve built with others over time. Once things get back to normal, those relationships will be damaged and need repairing. Other leaders will step up in times like this. While these leaders won’t be able to say with certainty what will happen, they will be able to SHOW with certainty that they care for the people around them. Their relationships will grow stronger because of these events and NOT in spite of them.”

He was right about all of this, and when he said “leader” he didn’t mean someone with official authority. He meant someone who could guide and influence others. I watched some people disappear, and it caused our relationship and my trust in them to weaken. Other people stepped up, and now I’d run through walls for them. Over time there have been more reorganizations, big changes, and other events, and his wisdom runs true every single time.

Right now is another one of those times. Sooner or later we will all get through what is going on. When we do, people will look back and remember whether or not YOU disappeared or showed up when you were needed. The challenge: Be the person who shows up. Be the person who shows you care and have that person’s back. Do this in a way that’s natural to you. Maybe it’s hosting conference calls. Maybe it’s giving speeches. Maybe it’s sending texts with memes and videos to keep everyone going. Whatever it is, be the bright spot for others right now. They need it.

I got a lot of love for you folks. Be awesome. Stay healthy and safe.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Goat Simulator and Embracing Who/What you are (2-5-20)

This will be the last in the video game series. It’s about a game called Goat Simulator and embracing what you are. Games might be enjoyable because of their stunning graphics, engaging story, or challenging nature. Goat Simulator isn’t any of those things. Instead, it is a ridiculous and random experience unlike anything else I’ve played. In the game, you play as a goat and run through the city breaking things, jumping, doing flips, riding bicycles, transforming into a floating angel and licking stuff to earn points. The game knows exactly what it is and leans into its unique weirdness. The game is ridiculous, and my girls LOVE it!

What does that have to do with anything? Goat Simulator is enjoyable, because it fully embraces what it is. At work it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of who and what you should be. It’s easy to look around and see successful people who are X, Y, and Z, and believe you have to be those things to be successful. This happens to me. Does it happen to you? As a result, it’s easy to lose yourself and try to be something/someone else. I wish we could all embrace who and what we are, as much as Goat Simulator does 😉

Vulnerable Embry story. Recently, I updated my Linkedin profile with a tagline describing myself as a “spark igniting storyteller.” Someone I have a lot of love for sent me a text message and told me that they were glad I was finally embracing this part of myself. They once described me like this to my face, and I responded so negatively it caught them by surprise, because that is obviously who/what I am.

I explained to her that for the longest time I HATED how people talked about me as a storyteller or a poet at work, because that didn’t match what I thought success was supposed to look like. If success looked like X, Y, Z, then I was a weird Q just messing up the alphabet. (#self-conciousAndrew #self-doubtAndrew) Over time I’ve become better at embracing who/what I am, and how that can enable me to be successful. Much like the goat game, there are a lot of things that I’ll never be, but what I am can be special and my uniqueness works in a lot of interesting ways. The same is true for you.

The challenge: Are you embracing who and what you are?

Bonus vulnerability- Before you think to yourself, “Andrew totally has this figured out,” I don’t. Just a few months ago I had been talking to folks and they were giving me compliments about being a creative storyteller, and my brain went to a place of self-doubt and insecurity. I just kept thinking to myself that just once I wanted someone to start the conversation with “Andrew’s is pretty smart and clever marketer” as opposed to making it sound like I’m some weird poet fueled by magic. Eventually, I realized I was being ridiculous, stepped out of my head, and went back to appreciating who I am.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Embracing the Reset Button (1-29-20)

Last week was about Braid and challenging assumptions. This week is about video game systems and the reset button.

I loved the original Nintendo, but I have to admit it could be pretty glitchy at times. Sometimes the games would work fine. Sometimes they would start well, and then get wonky. Other times, they were buggy from the beginning. See the picture to see what I mean. Whenever a glitch like this happened, you had to ask if it was something you could deal with. Sometimes it was a minor color issue, so you could go ahead and play. Sometimes, it was a major issue. When this happened, you’d have to press the reset button. This would restart everything, and give the game a fresh start, often solving the problem.

What does this have to do with anything? In video games you reset to have a fresh start and another chance when things were kind of glitchy. Think about your life right now. Are there things that are kind of “glitchy”? Maybe it’s a series of routines or bad habits that are getting in the way of you taking great care of yourself (#totallyme). Maybe it’s a relationship that has some baggage and tension. Maybe it’s a project that seems to be a little lost. Whatever it is, have you considered pausing to hit the reset button? Have you looked at those habits that are harming you and thought about replacements that could help you? Have you taken a deep breath, offered yourself and others some forgiveness and started over? Have you paused to reassess the work, regroup, and figure out a new path forward?

Too often in life we keep going forward even when things get “glitchy”, because we think we have to. However, if you were playing a video game where things were so glitchy it wasn’t working correctly and you couldn’t perform, you wouldn’t keep playing. You’d stop, reset the game, and try again. Why can’t we do more resetting in life?

The challenge: How are you embracing the reset button?

Havea jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

An Open Letter to 2019 (12-11-19)

The year is coming to a close and I often find myself in a reflective mood. I spend the hours hanging out on my couch, basking in the glow of my Christmas tree, thinking about everything that’s happened this past year. With this in mind, this entry will be a little different. It’s an open letter to 2019.

Dear 2019,

I don’t exactly know where to start with you. If I described you in a word I could use humbling, complicated, roller-coaster, intriguing, or challenging. The more I think about it the more I realize the word that best sums you up “needed”. You were all the lessons I needed, but didn’t know I wanted.

You gave my wife a new job, and proved to me that some people are put on this earth for specific reasons. It’s beautiful to see the stars align in this way and to see her this way.
You gave me another year with two daughters filled with belly hurting laughs, gentle smiles, the softest of strong hugs, movie watching snuggles, skinned knees, new journeys as a parent, and reminded me that my world is my family.
You constantly showed me that sickness is real, and that having my health and the health of my family is precious.
You reminded me that despite my efforts and my previous successes in life, I am still in fact human. I am weak, flawed, breakable, mistake prone, and there is deep power in embracing this.
You knocked me down and at times made life an ugly run in a 95 degree hail storm. You also reminded me that I’ll find a way to get back up and if I believe hard enough my legs will keep going.
And I know that a 95 degree hail storm doesn’t make sense, but 2019 you didn’t always make sense either, which taught me sometimes patience is the only thing that will help you see what you’ve been given.
You blessed with me a great team and tough challenges, just so we could see the amazing hearts we have inside of each other.
You were humbling, complicated, a roller-coaster, challenging, joyous, chaotic, growth-inducing, filled with love and every other emotion, and you gave me all the things I needed and never asked for. Thank you.

Kind of corny, but 100% true. The challenge: If you haven’t taken the time, take a few moments to reflect on 2019 and the lessons it taught you that you never asked for. If you look deep enough, you might find a little magic.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Restaurants and Creating Space to Bring your Authentic Selves (11-20-19)

Last week was about bringing different versions of yourself to work. This week is an extension of that and is more focused on creating the right atmosphere, so people can bring different versions of themselves to work, including the fragile ego side of ourselves as Pat put it. This email is a little longer, because I want to keep it real and share a Embry story with you.

Let’s pretend I asked you to assess three different restaurants. You start by going to restaurant A, but you can’t ever find it. Next, you go to restaurant B. The parking lot is filled with potholes and trash. Once you’re at the entrance, you see people, but the lights are off. You enter and eat, but never quite feel comfortable. Finally, you go to restaurant C. Everything is clean, and as you enter you feel warmth and comfort. There is a place waiting for you and the food is great. The server is attentive to you and what you need. Which restaurant is the best?

What does this have to do with anything? In the above situation, each restaurant creates its own vibe. Each vibe makes you feel different, and some make you feel more welcome than others. I’d argue as leaders, we are all like restaurants creating an environment that does or does not welcome people. Restaurant A is those leaders, where you’re not ever sure if they are there for you, because when you need them, you can’t find them physically or metaphorically. Restaurant B is those leaders, who might be open to you, but you’re not quite sure. They feel more hidden, and make you feel like you’re a burden to them. Restaurant C is those leaders, who create a welcoming, warm, and safe space for you to show up. It’s a space where you can bring different versions of yourself, and feel comfortable doing so. Have you worked with these different kinds of leaders? How did each one make you feel?

Embry story – Life had straight up kicked my butt, and Self-Doubt Andrew had taken over for weeks. I couldn’t shake him. I was trapped. I needed a Restaurant C, a safe place to talk about this. I send an email written by Self-Doubt Andrew to my boss that starts like this, “The short version- I feel like I’m not fulfilling my role and providing enough value to the team, and as a result I feel like I’m letting down you and the team. I don’t feel like I’m a total disaster, but I don’t feel great about what I’ve done so far either. My current mind state is feeling like I’m crawling out of a pit after being stuck in a hole for a few weeks.” Believe it or not, from there the email downward spirals even further. (I realize that sharing all of this is probably me being a little too honest, but I never claimed to be anything more than human.)

The mere fact that I sent my boss that email, shows she’s built a Restaurant C with me, a safe place to be me, any kind of me. We sit down and talk. She tells me she could tell I was in a funk, so I felt seen. She listens and asks questions to understand, postponing judgment while I’m a complete hot mess. She challenges the self-defeating narrative I keep repeating. She helps reframe things and tries to get me to crawl outside of my head. She does all this, but she doesn’t lie and tell me everything is okay either. She acknowledges I’m falling short in some places, and she helps me find direction. Throughout the conversation I know she cares, and she keeps offering to help. It’s this interaction, and all the interactions over time where she has shown she cares that has made her a Restaurant C for me, a safe place, a safe person. As we talk, Self-Doubt Andrew realizes he no longer has a place, so he shrinks back to his dark cage over the next few days and life loving Andrew shows up again. It’s not like my problems went away. It’s that I found a safe place to be with my problems with someone else, and that made the difference.

The challenge: Reflect on the conversations you have with teammates and the people you lead. How many of them are the type of vulnerable conversations like that one I described. If you’re never having those conversations, maybe everything just happens to be going well, or maybe you’re closer to being a Restaurant A or B than you realize. Maybe, you aren’t creating a safe space. Which restaurant will you be? What vibes will you create?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Bringing your Authentic Selves to Work (11-13-19)

This week we will start a series about bringing your authentic self to work. We’ll start by looking back at Halloween and bringing different versions of yourself to work.

The cool part about dressing up for Halloween is that you have the chance to share different sides of yourself. Every Halloween my family dresses up in a theme. This year we were all Harry Potter characters. I was Voldemort (with the worst mask ever), which gave me a chance to bring out my bald evil side aka just another day for me. In previous years I’ve been Green Lantern, Super Mario, and the Mad Hatter. Each instance gave me a chance to be someone slightly different. All of the outfits were still me, just different versions of me.

What does this have to do with anything? For the longest time people talked about bringing your “full self” to work. Over the past year or so, the conversation has changed slightly and people have talked about being able to safely and comfortably bring the different versions of yourself to work. This is an interesting concept, because we are all comprised of so many different versions/angles that come together to make us who we are. I believe this is important, because the different versions of ourselves have something unique to offer. You want Creative Andrew to show up to help you analyze things and connect dots in different ways. You want Storyteller Andrew to show up to help with communication. You want Performer Andrew to raise the energy in the room. You want Driver Andrew to show up when you need to get crap moving. You want Friend Andrew when you need someone to vent to.

All of the Andrews mentioned so far are positive Andrews. The thing is you want the not so positive Andrews to show up too. For example, you want Self-Doubt Andrew to show up and feel like he can talk to people at work. Self-Doubt Andrew is just as skilled with words as Storytelling Andrew, and has a knack for weaving a powerful narrative that sends Andrew into a downward spiral of self-doubt and feeling like garbage. Do you have a Self-Doubt version of yourself that does those things? If Self-Doubt Andrew can come to work, he can usually be dealt with by other people in a quick and effective manner. All it takes is a little empathy, a little “Andrew you’re overthinking this and stop worrying about this,” and a little let’s figure out how to solve the problem. If that stuff occurs, Self-Doubt Andrew is managed and doesn’t do any more damage. If Self-Doubt Andrew can’t show up at work, he’s still there, but he is never seen by other people. Instead of talking to other people and finding resolution, Self-Doubt Andrew will keep harassing all of the other Andrews, and sooner or later Andrew starts performing worse than he should and ends up losing his joy. While it’s important to be able to bring the different positive versions of yourself to work, I’d say it’s just as important to be able to bring the more fragile and vulnerable versions of yourself to work, so they can be talked to appropriately.

Something to consider: What versions of yourself do you bring to work?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running, Personal Records, and Doing your Best (8-21-19)

This will be the last in the series about running. We started with gutting out tough runs, and then looked at refueling and giving fuel to others. From there we focused on understanding where the finish line is, and how we might need to train to get there. Last week was about accepting that we are worthy. This week is about running, doing your best, and striving for growth.

A few months ago, I finished a race. When I got home Alice (7), asked me, “Daddy, did you win?” I chuckled at the question, because the only way I’d ever win a race is if all the runners were miraculously hit by a magic spell that made them run backwards. Anyway, I told Alice that I didn’t win, and that most of the other runners are faster and better than I am. Then Alice said, “Okay. Well, did you beat your personal score? (She meant personal record aka PR) Did you do your best? Those are the things that matter, right?” I smiled a ridiculously proud smile, and let her know that I had done my best and today doing my best also meant beating my personal record. Then, I told her I agreed that trying to get better and doing your best are the main things that matter, and those are the main things we can control.

You probably see where this is going. We are all running our own race, and we are all facing obstacles, many of which are out of our control. When we face these obstacles, it’s so easy to get focused on them that we lose sight of what we can control. One thing we can control is the amount of effort we put in. We can control whether we come in and give it our all every single day. We can control the energy and effort we give to our projects and our relationships. The other thing we can control is our drive to improve and grow. It’s easy to get into a routine. It’s easy to fall into the rhythm of a role where things are going smoothly. I don’t know about you, but when this happens it’s easy to be content with getting by vs. being focused on improving. I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I spend a decent amount of time reflecting. One of the reasons I do this is because it helps me understand where I currently am, where I’m still falling short, and what I can do to beat my personal best. Each day is another run, another race, and another chance to get better.

The challenge: Keep running. Keep striving. Keep beating your personal records.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running and being Worthy (8-14-19)

Last week was about adjusting your training for new goals. This week is about accepting that you are worthy.

After I finished my first marathon a friend sent me a message that said, “You can’t say you’re not a runner now.” (#lovedoublenegatives) This made me laugh, but it also hit me in a powerful way. I’ve been running for years, but for the longest time I never claimed to be a runner, because I had decided that all runners were graceful elks effortlessly bounding on their runs. I didn’t fit that mold, so I wasn’t a runner. At my core, I refused to call myself a runner, because I felt I wasn’t worthy. With that in my mind my friend’s comments basically said, “Only runners do what you just did. If that doesn’t make you a runner, nothing will. You are worthy of being called a runner.” My friend was right.

What does this have to do with anything? I kept shrugging off the title of “runner” because I didn’t feel worthy. I sometimes do that with compliments and kind words, even if they are objectively true, because deep down I don’t know if I’m worthy of the praise. Do you do anything similar? Embry poetry example. If you’d look at the evidence (won slam competitions, participated in nationals, received standing ovations and countless positive comments, continue to get asked to perform) objectively you’d say that I must be a pretty good poet. Still, for the longest time when people gave me compliments, I would shrug it off and say things like, “Thanks. I don’t know if I’m a good poet. I think I’m just a good performer.” I did this because the visual in my head of what a good poet is was something unattainable. I didn’t feel I was worthy of being called a good poet.

This happens at work too.Throughout my career I’ve had people say, “Bob, Susie, and Joe all believe you are really good at X, so they sent me to get your perspective on X.” Objectively speaking, that means multiple people thought I was good at something, which means at least to them my opinions had real value. I’d often respond with, “Oh thanks. I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I’m really all that good of a X or good at Y…” It’s another case of not feeling worthy enough to accept the compliment, accept who/what I am, and accept that others see me as worthy. Over time I learned that I am in fact worthy, and could accept the kind words.

The fact is that we are all more worthy than we ever can readily admit, and we just need to be willing to embrace this fact. In case no one has told you lately… If you influence people, bring out the best in them, engage their hearts and minds, and achieve results that wouldn’t be possible without you, then you are worthy of being called a leader. If your children know that you love them, and you invest your time and energy into helping them grow, you are worthy of being called a good mom/dad. (<-Parents, read this one twice.) If you are a person, you are worthy of love, kindness, and compassion.

The challenge: Will you accept that you are worthy?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry