Building Houses and Pacing vs Pushing Yourself (10-1-25)

This wasn’t the blog I intended to write this week, but I was driving into work on Tuesday and the universe told me this is the story that needs told. This week is about building houses and the balance between pushing and pacing yourself.

Pretend for a minute that you build houses. You’ve been building a house since January 1^st. It’s a large and difficult job, and you’ve been grinding day in and day out. So far, you’ve made good progress. Now you find out there will need to be some last-minute changes on top of the unfinished work you already have. You know you should pace yourself, but there is so much stuff to do that you begin overly pushing yourself. You are working hard and working long hours. You get tired. Your work gets a little sloppy. At one point you’re so tired that as you are hammering nails you hit your hand and break all the bones in it. You get the house done before the end of the year, but it’s not exactly your best work, you have broken bones, and you are spending the end of the year hoping you can heal a bit before starting the process all over again.

Let’s make some connections. We may not be building houses, but I think it’s safe to say that we all have been running hard this year. It’s been another year of high expectations and doing more with less. I’ve seen all of us work and push and work and push to deliver for the people we serve. With all that said, we are now kicking off Q4, and that is always a mad dash to the end of the year. In the midst of this mad dash, I want us to finish strong, not broken. I want us to finish the year and be ready for rest, not needing to heal whether that is physically or mentally. What we build matters, AND the people who do the building matter too.

The challenge: How can ensure you are pacing yourself vs pushing yourself to the point where it becomes hazardous to your health?

Bonus challenge: If you are a leader, how are you setting up the environment so your people can deliver without harming themselves?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Time, Perspective, and Type 2 Fun (9-22-25)

A bottle of white liquid pouring out of a dropper

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Happy Monday!

You’re getting a blog on Monday, because I’m going to do a few things for work this morning, and then I’m taking the rest of the week off. Last week was about making the most of a situation. This week is about time, perspective, and type 2 fun.

Recap: Diane and a 4-month-old Alice are living with my parents. It’s chaos. My wife is looking at potential houses to buy, which is totally stressing her out. My dad goes with my wife to check out houses to help out with Alice. Anyway, they go to a house and long story short, my dad knocks over the bottle of Alice’s milk and gets it all over the dining room table in the house. This takes an already stressful situation and makes it worse. They are frantically cleaning it up, and Diane is worried about potentially ruining someone’s table and is feeling more overwhelmed than ever. Ultimately, everything is okay. Fast forward a few hours, and the milk spilling incident has turned from super stressful to hilarious. They tell the story to my mom when she comes home, and everyone is laughing. Fast forward to today, and the milk spilling incident is one of our favorite stories to tell.

Let’s connect some dots. When you read the story above, I hope you smiled or chuckled a bit. It’s kind of funny. It’s also a situation we can all relate to. Maybe you didn’t spill milk, but we’ve all made a mess which turned a stressful situation into something even worse. However, with a little time and perspective, we can begin to see the humor in the moment. My family calls these kinds of things type 2 fun, a phrase we learned from a friend. Type 1 fun is when the situation is enjoyable and funny as it happens. Type 2 fun is when the situation is bad at the moment, but later on you see the joy and humor in it. As I get older, I’ve learned that most initially stressful situations in life end up as Type 2 fun.

The challenge: When you run into something tough/stressful/bad will you be able to create the distance and perspective to see the joy and humor?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Making the Most of a Situation (9-17-25)

Last week was about two people being in the same situation and seeing it differently. This week is about making the most of a situation.

Alice was a colicky baby and every night around 6 or 7, they’d spend an hour screaming their lungs out. My wife felt horrible about the inconvenience of having a screaming baby in my parents’ house. My wife also underestimated how weird my dad is. Alice was in the middle of screaming their head off. My dad could have been irritated, but instead he took this as a challenge. My dad decided that this would be a contest between him and Alice to see who was the loudest. He starts being loud too. At first Alice was stunned, and then they roared in defiance. However, my dad was not going to lose. He went all in, making weird faces, funny noises, and wildly gesturing. Alice goes from screaming to laughing and shrieking from pure delight. They keep going to see who can be the loudest and silliest. Soon, everyone in the house is giggling at the absurdity of it all. This became their nightly ritual for the entire time we lived with my parents, and now it’s one of our favorite memories.

Let’s connect some dots. Let’s be honest. If you’ve ever been in a room with a screaming baby, it’s not exactly fun. It would have been easy to be irritated and grumpy. It would have been easy to look at this like a moment to just suffer through. However, my dad decided to turn this into something else. He turned it into a game, which became enjoyable for everybody. Think about yourself for a minute. How often do you allow yourself to be totally stuck in a situation? How often do you allow yourself to become irritated and grumpy at something that isn’t going well? How often do you approach things with a negative mindset, when you have the power to make something different out of the moment?

The challenge: What will you make out of the moments you are given?

Bonus story- If you are thinking my dad has stopped playing weird games like that, you’re wrong. His new favorite game is to make cringeworthy dad jokes that make a teenage Alice roll their eyes. Yes, he is very successful at this. (I wonder where I get it from 😉)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Same Situation, Different Experiences (9-10-25)

Last week I spent time with my wife, kids, and family up at a camper. We started reminiscing around a bonfire and shared the story of us moving back to Indiana, which inspired this series. This week is about how people can be in the same situation and have different experiences.

Let me set the scene. It’s a stressful whirlwind. Within a few months, we had our first kid, the first grandkid on my side, I got a new job that would move us from Wisconsin to Indiana, and we had to buy a house. To top it off, we had to do this while I worked in Wisconsin and Diane and a few months old Alice went to Indiana for a month to begin house hunting. They lived with my parents, my brother, 2 cats, and a dog. #stress While Diane and Alice are living with my parents, Alice is only a few months old and is being a typical colicky newborn with constant crying, loud screaming, and irregular sleep. #allthethings

When I spoke with Diane on the phone, she was worried that she and Alice were being an annoying burden for the family. From her point of view, all she could see was the screaming, crying, and the disruption in day-to-day schedules for everyone in the house. I told Diane, “I hear you. What you are saying is valid. Also, that is not at all how my parents are experiencing this right now. When I talk to them, they go on and on about how they are so excited and lucky because their first ever grandkid is LIVING WITH THEM. In their eyes, you and Alice can do no wrong. They are so pumped to be able to spend this time with you two and they love being able to snuggle and love on Alice all the time.”

Let’s connect some dots. Everything my wife experienced was true. Everything my parents experienced was true. The thing is that they were both approaching this from a different starting point. This is a classic instance of people being in the same situation and having different experiences. As we go throughout different experiences, it might be worth taking a moment to reflect on the situation, our starting point, and how that might cause us to interpret things one way or another.

The challenge: How will you be more mindful of how you are experiencing situations? Will you remember that people could be experiencing the same situation differently?

Bonus 1- Big thanks to Charlie Wilson and Bryan Lapel for offering me the job and enabling us to come home. I’m forever thankful.

Bonus 2 (cute story)- My family knew I was going for this job, and we also all thought I had a pretty slim chance to get it. Anyway, I had just got off the phone with Charlie where he offered me the role, and I was so excited! I immediately told Diane and was getting ready to tell my dad when he called me. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he just got new tires put on his vehicle, so he’s ready to drive up to Wisconsin a lot and in the winter to see the grandbaby. Nonchalantly I said, “That sounds cool. Wisconsin is a beautiful state. You can drive up here all you want, but I won’t be living here.” Immediately my dad is like, “WHAT!?!?” I told him I got the job and then he’s ecstatic and like, “You better not be messing with me man!” I assure him I’m not and that Diane and I are excited about moving closer to home. I ask my dad to have my mom call me, so I can tell her. Hours go by and I don’t hear from my mom, which I think is weird. Eventually, she calls me, and I share the news with her. She’s ecstatic. Then, she’s getting onto my dad for not having her call sooner, and the poor guy is like, “I kept nudging you to call Andrew, but you were busy and said you’d call when you had time!” lol

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Mario Kart and Choosing Where to Invest Your Effort (9-3-25)

Last week was an entry from, Cameron, and his thoughts on be brave enough to ask questions. This week is an entry from Alice and is about being intentional about where you invest your effort. I hope you enjoy the insights.

My dad is a really good Mario Kart player. He always gets 1st place. Anytime we win, he usually lets us. He’s pretty good at most video games, not just at Mario Kart. I sometimes say he’s one of the best players ever. “Nope, I’m nowhere close,” he usually says.

One day, I asked myself if I’d ever be as good a player as him. I realized I wouldn’t. Which didn’t feel good exactly, realizing that I wasn’t going to be the best. But if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t really putting the work in to be as good as a player. Why? Because I didn’t want to. That’s not being lazy, that’s accepting my limits.

In the grand scheme of things, being the best wasn’t one of my goals. I mean, yes, if I could magically become the best player I would. But to work as hard as my dad to do so, I wasn’t really interested. I’d rather spend my time becoming a better writer and artist. I enjoy writing and drawing, and I enjoy putting the effort in to getting better at those things.

Let’s connect this to work. Think about your career. What are some areas that you’re already happy with? What are some areas where you’d like to grow and improve?

The challenge: Where will you invest your efforts to get better?

Bonus story from Andrew- When I first joined this company, I wanted to climb the ladder and be one of the leaders of a business unit or something like that. I don’t want to do that anymore. If I’m being honest like Alice, I don’t have the right skillset for those roles. Also, I’m not interested in gaining the skillsets and experiences to be great in those roles. Instead, I’d rather continue to invest in areas that are in line with my strengths and maximize the value I can provide like innovation, creative thinking, communication, etc. I likely won’t ever be the leader of a business unit or something like that, and that’s more than okay. I will continue to grow and lead in other ways though.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Speed, Acceleration, and Asking Questions (8-27-25)

Last week was about Mario Kart cup challenges, stretch goals, and performance reviews. This week is about speed, acceleration, and being brave enough to ask questions. Important note- This ENTIRE entry was written by my son, Cameron. I hope you enjoy his insights below.

When I was younger, as in a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t know what speed and acceleration meant. I thought that having higher acceleration was better than having high speed. When I was playing with my dad, I would ask, “Why do you choose characters with higher speed, when acceleration is better?” My dad explained to me what the difference between speed and acceleration was, and that for some courses it was better to have more acceleration and others to have more speed. Now that I know this information, I try to choose the characters with the stats I need for the course.

What does this have to do with anything? It’s important to ask questions, so you can understand more about the situation. The more you know about the situation, the better you can be at your job.

The challenge: Will you be open to asking more questions to better understand what’s going on?

Bonus (from Andrew): Last week I gave my boss a challenge to provide performance feedback through Mario Kart analogies. I have to say I’m impressed. He referenced Shigeru Miyamoto, power ups, difficulty levels, and asked me my favorite question, “What banana peels might you hit on your way to achieving your goals?” #Goldcup3stars

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Mario Kart Cup Challenges, Stretch Goals, and Performance Reviews (8-20-25)

Golden Dash Cup 3 stars 150cc (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) - YouTube

Last week was about Mario Kart, and choosing the right set up for the right task. This week is about Mario Kart cup challenges, stretch goals, and performance reviews.

In Mario Kart you can do grand prix cup challenges, where you race on 4 courses to earn championship cups and stars. On the easier difficulties I have gold cups and three stars on all of the courses. This isn’t true on the hardest difficulty. My stretch goal is to get all gold cups and all of the gold stars, but I’m not there yet. On the hardest difficulty I have some gold cups with stars, some gold cups without stars, some silver or bronze, and some without any cups.

With the information you know, would you say I’m bad at Mario Kart? I’d hope not. I hope that you’d say that I’ve demonstrated mastery at some levels, and now that I’m playing at the highest level I’ve shown I can perform well, even if I haven’t perfectly hit all of my stretch goals. Even if I never get all gold cups and all gold stars at the highest difficulty, I know that I’ve delivered in Mario Kart.

So where exactly is this going? I’m going to have a performance check-in with my supervisor on Friday. Much like Mario Kart, I’ve set some aggressive stretch goals. Much like Mario Kart, I don’t have perfect gold cups with three stars for all of them. During the conversation I’ll share how I have one gold cup with 3 stars, and I’m proud of how I crushed it. I’ll show some of my silver cups as well. Even though they aren’t gold, I’m proud of them too. I’ll also be honest about the challenges where I couldn’t get a cup and the lessons I’ve learned. Maybe the course had unexpected turns. Maybe I just wasn’t ready. Maybe I didn’t have the right set up. Maybe I had to choose to prioritize getting gold in one cup over other cups. At the end of the day, I am trying to play at the highest level possible, so I understand that it will be next to impossible to hit all of my stretch goals. Falling short is inevitable. The only way I’d hit all of my goals is if I was playing on easy mode, and where is the challenge and fun in that?

The challenges: Will you be brave enough to set stretch goals? Will you be comfortable when you don’t reach all of them?

Bonus thought: Since I’ve already did my performance conversation write up in Mario Kart language, am I good? Do I need to do anything else? If someone from HR could check on that for me, I’d appreciate it 😉

Bonus thought 2: Obviously this is a not-so-secret challenge to my boss to see if he can deliver feedback to me through the lens of Mario Kart. I’ll make sure I update you on how well he does.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

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

Rabbit Holes and Perspective (8-7-25)

This is a bonus blog, because the universe said someone needs this today. If you’re the one, just know the universe heard you. This blog is about falling down rabbit holes, taking a step back, gaining perspective, and realizing you’re doing pretty well.

Let me start this by saying I’m not trying to fish for compliments or anything. I just want to be real about the head space I was in. I started my week with these thoughts going through my head, “I have a lot of stuff I need to get done. I’m feeling behind. Here is a whole list of things that aren’t quite going right that need to be fixed. This is not good.” I was in a bit of a rabbit hole. Have any of you been in that headspace? Not a fun place to be.

Then, something interesting happened. I was in a situation where someone was showering me with praise and recognition. They were publicly telling this story like, “Andrew is so awesome. He’s doing great work and it’s providing a lot of value.” All of that punched the negative mindset I had right in the face and shifted my perspective. I went from, “This is not good” to “In the grand scheme of things, stuff is going pretty well. I should feel really great about where I am and what I’m doing.” I also challenged myself to realize that in the grand scheme of things, all of those little things I was worried about don’t matter or detract from what I’m doing.

How does this connect to our day to day? It’s easy for one slip up, one imperfect thing to lead us down a rabbit hole to wallowing in a bad mindset. Once we are sliding down this rabbit hole, it’s easy to lose perspective on how things are truly going. Sometimes, we need to take a step back to look at the situation. Sometimes, we need an external force to help us see the truth of things too.

The challenge: Will you challenge a bad mindset when it starts to set in? Will you help others challenge their bad mindsets when they are stuck in a rabbit hole?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Blog #650- Central Air, Systems, and Being a Leader/Technician (8-6-25)

This is going to be the final entry in the series about replacing my air conditioning. Last week we explored how leaders can create a cooler and more comfortable environment. This week I want to dive deeper into this idea by exploring central air conditioning as an integrated system and being a leader/technician.

When my air conditioning was broken, my thermostat still worked. We could set it to the desired temperature. However, some parts of the integrated system didn’t work. It was pushing air around, but unable to cool the air. As a result, even if we had the temperature set where we wanted it to be, the system was unable to deliver those results. The technician knew the thermostat was fine, and also knew the only way to achieve the desired result would be to upgrade the parts and system.

What does this have to do with work? A thermostat is a lot like a vision. The thermostat/vision can be set clearly and correctly. However, the vision doesn’t matter if we haven’t set up the pieces and processes in a way that enables us to achieve that vision. Have you ever encountered a situation where a vision couldn’t be achieved in the current system? Maybe, you were asked to move faster, but our internal processes were not set up to enable speed and there were not the right tools to be more efficient. Maybe you were asked to be bold and take on more risks, but the processes and governance around you didn’t empower you to make decisions. The system must be designed to support the vision.

With this in mind, great leaders aren’t just people who set the thermostat. Great leaders aren’t just people who create successful environments with words. Great leaders are the technicians who ensure the other pieces and processes will lead to achieving the vision. Great leaders are the ones who say, “We want to move faster, well X is getting in the way. X either needs to be removed or replaced by something that gives us speed. Let’s take Y process and totally reimagine it to fit our needs vs the way we’ve always done things.”

The challenge: Will you be a leader who just sets the thermostat (vision) or will you be the leader/technician who builds a system that leads to success?

Bonus: This is blog #650. Thanks so much for reading and encouraging me throughout the years to keep writing. I appreciate you all being part of this journey! If you have any favorite blogs or topics, I’d love to hear about them.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry