Failure and Premortems (7-29-26)

This week I want to kick off a new series focused on failure, and we will start by thinking about why we will fail and premortems.

I have a lot on my plate. (Does that sound familiar?) In order to try to manage this, I keep a Word document with all my key workstreams and anything that requires a significant part of my time. I then prioritize those workstreams and update them on a regular basis.

This week I took an additional step. I fed my priority sheet to Claude, and asked it to deliver the top 10 reasons why I would fail delivering these things based on what Claude knew about my workload and me. It pulled out some great reasons why I might fail including things like, “I will become the connection point and bottleneck for too many things simultaneously.” “The important non-urgent thinking tasks will be put in the background to deal with urgent feeling fires.” “You don’t protect enough unstructured thinking time.” From there, I asked it to give me 3 tangible things I could action on to prevent this and did those.

Let’s make some connections. Most of the time, when we analyze failure, we analyze it once it has already happened. This is useful, however, it’s too late. Instead of doing a postmortem, I did a premortem. I realized I was overwhelmed and the chances of failure were higher than usual. Instead of letting this happen, I attacked it. I asked what would cause me to fail. I defined the problem and then started acting on it. I can’t guarantee this will eliminate failure, but I can say it will increase my chances of success.

The challenge: Will you conduct premortems to identify failure points before they happen?

Bonus- This is the grid I fill out with my workstreams. It’s been pretty helpful.

Workstream	Biz Impact (H,M,L)	Deliverable Grade	Effort Needed (H, M, L)	Priority (A, B, C)	Notes
Insert project/workstream	What is the business impact?	What “grade” does this have to be?	How much effort do you need to put in?	What is the final priority	Insert any relevant notes to explain what this workstream is about and why it might be high priority or why it might take a certain amount of effort

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Blog 700! Trade-offs and Rethinking Outcomes

This is blog number 700! Thanks so much to all of you for reading throughout the years. You comments and compliments always make my heart smile. If you ever want to look at old blogs, they are all here Striking Matches – Igniting new ideas and expanding the way we think about things. With all that said, this week is about trade-offs and broadening how we think about outcomes.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to create content for a breakout room during our Marketing Summit (shout out to Todd and Sam for a great job). I had a trade-off to make, because I could have approached this in a couple of ways. Option A, I could have let it be the typical presentation. It would have worked, but it would have been relatively boring and unengaging. Option B, I could turn it into an experience, but I would have to invest more time and energy.

I chose Option B. I invested a significantamount of my time designing and partnering to build an experience focused on driving decisions with AI. I wove a movie theme throughout everything, creating movie posters, scene briefings, scripts, intentionally choosing props, and so many other things to pull this altogether. Most importantly, I found people to work the stations who absolutely KILLED IT with their stories of driving decisions with AI. (The Lilly Market Research crew is pretty special in case you didn’t already know)

Let’s make a few connections. We live in a world where we often think of trade-offs solely focused on the easily measured things like efficiency or ROI. I’m not saying those things are wrong. I’m saying that at times they can be incomplete. At times, overly focusing only on the easily measurable things will cause you to miss out on greater opportunities.

If you only focus on outcomes that can easily be measured, then nothing I did makes sense. Option A would have cost me less time and less resources. Option A would have freed up more time so I could do other things. However, if you broaden your views on what a positive outcome is, then it becomes a different story. Option B and the experience we built created more energy and engagement than Option A could have dreamed of. Additionally, all this time I invested in Option B filled my bucket. It brought joy and unlocked more creativity that is spilling into everything else I touch. Option B took a lot of my energy, but is still one of the best trade-offs I’ve made in a long time.

The challenge: How will you broaden your view on outcomes as you make trade-off decisions?

Bonus- If you want to get meta with this, if you only focus on easily quantifiable outcomes, then it doesn’t make sense for me to write blogs. I can’t quantify if the blogs save time or do anything for the bottom line. I’d like to think that they give people a smile, motivation, and a pick me up when they need it. I like to think they give folks new ways of looking of things. I also know that the writing makes my heart happy, and that counts for something. Combined, those reasons are more than enough to make the corresponding trade-offs to keep writing.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Taking Time to Soak It All In (7-20-26)

This is a bonus blog about taking time to soak in where you are and what you’ve done.

Last Friday, my boss sent me some recognition about something I recently delivered. Within a few seconds I had read the email, thought “that’s nice”, sent a quick reply, filed it away into a folder where I keep the recognition I get, and started to move to the next thing. The email was already sorted into the folder when I paused for a second. I decided to stop rushing to the next thing. I sat there for a moment and let myself absorb what I had delivered, the feedback, and the recognition I had received. I allowed myself to feel proud and accomplished. I slowed down and spent a few seconds taking it all in and felt all the better for it. Then, and only then, did I move to the next task.

Let’s connect dots. Has anything like this ever happened to you? Have you ever been so lost in the grind that you just keep moving from thing to thing? Are you ever so lost in the grind that you don’t let the achievement and recognition sink in?

If this has happened to you before, I’m sure you can also attest to how exhausting and mentally draining this is. It’s so easy to get lost in all of this. Sometimes, we just need to slow down. Sometimes, we need to take a deep breath, look around, and be proud of where we are and how we got here.

The challenge: Will you take a moment to soak in what you’ve achieved and what you’ve done?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Enabling Trade-offs (7-15-26)

Last week was about making trade-offs in order to avoid burnout. This week is about enabling trade-offs.

The other day my boss did something that was very simple and very effective. I was on an email chain with my boss and someone else. My boss wrote something along the lines of, “You should connect with Andrew on this. Andrew will be wrapped up this week and next week on X.” It was a simple two sentences. It drove home that this was important. It also gave me air cover that he didn’t expect me to move on it right away. He was enabling me to make a trade-off to focus on X, and get to this at a later date. It was a simple two sentences that were powerful and appreciated. Have you ever had a leader give you air cover? How did it feel?

Let’s connect the dots. How often do you hear leaders talk about how we need to make trade-off decisions? I feel this is a constant talking point at most townhalls. Now, how often do leaders enable you to actually make trade-off decisions? How often do they proactively give you the air cover to not do all the things all the time at the same time? This is where things tend to fall apart. It’s easy to say the right things, and much harder to do the right things.

Something I’m trying to do a better job of is ensuring there is more comfort, clarity, and alignment around what can move slow in comparison. The conversation usually goes like this, “The top priorities are A, B, and C. I see you are also trying to move X, Y, and Z. If X, Y, and Z ever threaten A, B, and C, then I want you to know I’m okay with X, Y, and Z moving slower. I’m comfortable with you pausing that work and making that trade-off, so we can nail A, B, and C.” You can have conversations like this if you are officially in a leadership position and even if you are an individual contributor partnering with cross-functional teams.

The challenges: How are you giving your people air cover to make trade-off decisions?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Trade Offs and Burn Out (7-7-26)

This week I want us to pause for a moment to think about the rest of the year, trade-offs, and burn out.

I was off last week, enjoying our summer shutdown. During this time, I made a few decisions about things that would be non-negotiable for the week. For example, I decided that I would get 7k-10k steps in every day. Nothing was going to get in the way of this. Maybe I would trade off sleeping in, so I could wake up and walk first thing. Maybe I’d trade off sitting on the coach relaxing for walking. I was intentional about my decision, and I was intentional about making trade-offs to reach that goal.

Then, work started up again. We are basically 1 week into the back half of the year. Over the past few days I’ve heard people say things like, “We’re already back to the races,” “Back on the treadmill,” “It’s already so busy.” Do you feel this way? I know I do. All of a sudden, achieving those goals became more complicated, because a lot more was on my plate.

Let’s connect some dots. In my time away, I was able and willing to do things for the house, my family, and myself. This filled my cup and made me a better human. As we start up the second half of the year, I can already see that there is more work than I’ll ever be able to do. If I try to do it all, I know I’ll burn myself out. When I burn myself out, I won’t be good for my family, myself, or my work colleagues.

I’m realizing that if I’m not intentional about my goals and the trade-offs I’m willing to make I won’t be successful. If I’m not intentional, I might spend too much time on X project and not enough on Y, when Y is what really counts. If I’m not intentional, I might trade-off my health or my time with my family for getting lost in the daily grind.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Pausing and Searching for Indicators of Progress (6-24-26)

This is week 5 of our series based on lessons I’ve learned working in a central role. This week is about pausing, looking around, and searching for indicators of progress.

Part of the challenge of being in a central role is that there often is not a clear scoreboard. When I worked in marketing for a brand, we had clear targets we were going after. We knew we were trying to help X number of patients and achieve Y level of market share. I don’t have that in this role. I’m trying to drive us to the future of market research. It’s hard to know how close or far away I am from an ambiguous target that is always changing.

Recently, I had a few days where I was a bit overwhelmed and irritated. I was getting swallowed up by various fire drills and other issues. In the frustration, I thought to myself, “Am I even doing anything? Am I even getting anywhere?” After being grumbly for a day or two, I snapped out of it, slowed down, and pulled my head up again. I still didn’t have a clear scoreboard. However, I could at least see indicators that I was at least moving things forward. I still can’t tell you exactly how close or far away we are from the future. I can see how far we’ve come. I can see how our momentum is taking us forward, and that’s fuel enough to keep going.

Let’s make some connections. Our story this week is about being overwhelmed, lost, and pausing to find perspective. Have you ever felt lost and discouraged in your role? Even if you’re in a role where there is some kind of scoreboard, I’m willing to bet there are moments where you have been so overwhelmed with things that you’ve felt a little lost. It’s easy to feel this way. Everything is going so fast. Technology is changing so much. There is so much pressure.

In moments like these, we have to find a way to slow down and pull up. We have to find a way to slow down, even if we think we should be sprinting. Once we slow down, we can look around, check out the indicators around us, and see how we are really doing vs the story we are telling ourselves.

The challenge: Will you slow down and look for indicators of progress?

Bonus- Many of you will be part of our annual shutdown. I hope you totally unplug. I hope you reconnect with friends, family, and yourself. I hope you stay safe and get some sun.

Have a jolly good day and a fun/safe 4^th of July,

Andrew Embry

Standing in the Tension (6-17-26)

This is week 4 of our series based on lessons I’ve learned working in a central role. This week is about being comfortable standing in the tension between different ideas.

I’ve mentioned before that in this role I have to navigate a lot of ambiguity without have any formal power. As a result of this, I often find myself in the center of competing forces. I’m being asked to scale enterprise solutions while moving fast. I’m challenged to help meet the needs of individuals while creating things that meet the needs of the masses. I’m asked to customize things to specific needs while keeping things scalable. I’m asked to experiment with new things while also standardizing. I’m asked to encourage exploration while maintaining a level of intentional design and control. I’m asked to imagine a future, build it, and drive adoption all at the same time (like building the airplane while flying and acting as air traffic control).

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever felt trapped in the middle of competing ideas? Maybe you’ve been asked to do more with less. Maybe you’ve been asked to embrace failure, while also being told you can’t miss. Standing in the middle of ideas is a lot. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the complexity. The instinct is to resolve the tension as quickly as possible, but the truth is that the tension will always be there. The second instinct is to avoid the tension if you can’t resolve it.

The beauty comes from standing in the middle of the tension and knowing it won’t break you. The power comes from realizing multiple ideas can be true at the same time, and leaning into that until you see solutions and possibilities that never existed before. Once you do that, you stop living in a black or white world. You stop living in a world of this or that. Instead, you begin living in a world of “Yes, and…” which is incredibly powerful.

The challenge- How will you embrace standing in the tension?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Taking Steps Forward Through Ambiguity (6-10-26)

We are now on week 3 of lessons I’ve learned from working in a central role. Last week was about leadership and power. This week is about the importance of taking steps forward when you’re mired in ambiguity.

I’ve been in a few central roles in my career. Generally, these roles are pretty ambiguous. For example, in my career role I’m supposed to lead innovation and lead us to the future. Let’s be honest. I have no idea what that means. I can’t say with certainty what will happen. Recently, I’ve been sharing thoughts on what a future agentic insights ecosystem could look like. If more than 40% of that ends up being true, I’ll consider that a miracle. All of this complexity and ambiguity can feel overwhelming. It can stop me from taking action.

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever felt paralyzed by ambiguity? It’s easy to get stuck thinking and thinking and overthinking every possible angle and every possible contingency. While that thinking might make us feel like we are doing something, the truth is that thinking isn’t always the same thing as taking action.

I don’t with certainty the exact coordinates of where we need to go in the future. I do have a north star though. I do have things I believe will likely continue to be true. The value of data will continue to increase in a world of AI. Getting data AI ready will continue to grow in importance. Having tools to help get the most of the data will be critical. As there are more and more tools, being clear on the tool and the problem they solve will be more important than ever.

I know that if I take action toward solving those problems, I’ll likely be walking in the right direction. I’m humble enough to know I can always redirect along the way. Instead of being paralyzed, I’ll keep taking steps and keep taking steps and keep taking steps until we finally get to that future.

The challenge- How will you keep taking steps forward through ambiguity?

By the way, the picture is from a Tough Mudder last year. I crawl through mud as a hobby, which explains a lot about how weird I am 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Legos, Change Management, and Fitting Into a New Vision (5-20-26)

Our last entry was about Legos, change management, and making the next step easy to take. This week is about helping Lego pieces and people fit into a new and different vision.

I first heard about Brad Barber about a year ago. He is a Lego builder with a knack of being able to turn any set he gets his hands on into a Millenium Falcon, the famous ship from Star Wars. He does this by creatively rearranging the pieces from that set only. No outside pieces are allowed. Simba becomes the Millenium Falcon. Cinderella’s dress becomes the Millenium Falcon. Dinosaurs become the Millenium Falcon.

Let’s connect things. In the world of work, there are a lot of pieces including employees, processes, and tech. Often, they are configured in a specific way, so people assume they can only be that thing, much like many people would assume a Simba Lion King set could only be Simba. The truth is, we all have the ability to grow, change, and become part of new things if we are guided in the right direction.

This all makes me think of Brad’s work. The beauty of his work is that he can see the pieces for what they are, understand their value, and also how they might exist in a new design and system. He doesn’t break the pieces. He doesn’t twist and pull them into new shapes. He understands their strengths and leverages them differently. He designs something, so he can leverage all their strengths to achieve a new goals. One of the most important parts of change management is connecting with people to help them understand how they are valued AND how they could fit into the new system. This shifts change from something to be afraid of to being something we can be part of.

The challenge: As you lead change, how will you help others see where they fit?

Bonus thought: AI is one of the forces changing our vision for how work gets done. I can’t speak for all areas, but I can speak a bit for market research. It’s true that AI is changing and will continue to change the way do research and gather insights. At the same time, the value and the core of what makes market researchers great will always be there and will always be important. Things like curiosity, the ability to define business questions, understanding decisions in context, and influencing without authority will be constants even as we evolve.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Legos, Change Management, and Inviting People to Build (5-6-26)

Last week was about Legos, change management, and making next steps easy to take. This week is about inviting people to build.

I have invested hundreds of hours into building dozens of Lego sets throughout my life. If we are being honest, it would be easier to buy things that were already assembled. However, there is joy in building things. There is joy in putting my time and effort into creating something, even if I am following a pattern laid out by others. At the end of the day, when I build, I feel part of something and that matters.

Let’s build on this. Take a second to think about different initiatives you’ve experienced in your career. Have you ever had situations where the initiatives were being done TO YOU? How did that feel? I’ve had this happen to me, and it doesn’t feel good. These situations make me feel insignificant. At this moment, I’m not part of this, I’m at the mercy of this. It kills engagement and motivation.

Now, think about the other side of the spectrum. Have you ever had situations where you felt like you were part of building the initiative? How did that feel? These things energize me. Being brought along makes me feel like I matter. Having the chance to shape things makes me feel valued. Similar to our Lego initiative, I love building and feeling part of something.

The challenge: How are you bringing people along and inviting them to build with you vs making them feel this is being done to them?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry