Island of Misfit Toys and not Fitting the Mold (12-6-17)

Last week we looked at Prep and Landing and the importance of everyone doing their part.  This week I want us to reflect on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  More specifically, I want us to think about the Island of Misfit Toys.

In case you’re not familiar with the story of Rudolph let me give you a synopsis.  Essentially, it’s a story of misfits.  Rudolph is a misfit because his nose glows red.  Hermey is a misfit, because he is an elf who wants to be a dentist instead of a toy maker.  Rudolph and Hermey run away and end up on the Island of Misfit Toys.  The island is home to toys who don’t exactly work in the typical way and/or toys that look different from the norm.  For example, there is a train with square wheels, a polka dotted elephant, and a Charlie-in-the-Box (instead of a Jack-in-the-box).  Eventually, everyone realizes that even though Rudolph and his friends are “misfits” they are still good people.  Even though the toys might be different, they can still bring joy to children.  By the end of the show, people finally begin to accept them for who they are.

You might already be making some connections between this story and life.  The way I think about it, we are all humans, which means to some degree we are all misfits or at least we have all felt like we didn’t fit in at some point in our lives.  If you connect this idea to work, it means we aren’t all going to fit the mold and that’s okay.  Even if you don’t fit “the mold” you can still be great at whatever you do.  I work in market research and am amazed at how talented everyone is and how different we all are.  While we are all different from each other, we are all able to help the business define problems, understand customers, and make decisions.  In my case, I might be a polka dotted elephant, but my polka dotted elephantness works for me.  In the same token, I know all kind of people in sales, operations, HR, legal, medical, regulatory, etc. who are great for different reasons.  We all have our own idiosyncrasies, strengths, and styles that shape us and enable us to be successful.

Another connection can be made if you look at life in a broader sense.  Just because we are misfits doesn’t mean we are undeserving of love.  The thing that has always bothered me the most about Rudolph is that a lot of people treated him like garbage, because his nose glowed.  It’s not because Rudolph was a jerk.  It’s not because Rudolph was an uncaring animal.  It’s because his nose glowed.  We are all misfits.  We all deserve love and we all should give love to everyone else.

The challenge: Are you embracing your inner misfit?  Are you giving love to the people around you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Prep and Landing and Playing our Roles (11-29-17)

We are entering the home stretch.  Many of us just have a few weeks of work left in the year.  For these last few weeks I’d like to share some thoughts inspired by various Christmas specials that I watch with my family every year.  This week we will look at Prep and Landing and the importance of everyone doing their part.  Spoiler alert.  This blog will reveal plot details of the show.  By the way, this week’s blog is inspired by Anshu who suggested last year we do something on Prep and Landing.

Prep and Landing focuses on an elite group of elves that prepare every house for Santa’s arrival, so he can get in and out as effectively as possible.  After all, Santa can’t do everything on his own.  Instead, this group of elves preps the roof so Santa can land with his sleigh and ensures the children are sleeping, the dogs are friendly, the cookies are ready to eat, there is room for the presents, and stuff like that.  The story centers around Wayne, one of the prep and landing elves who has been doing that job for hundreds of years.  Over time he becomes disenfranchised with the work and begins to feel that the work he does isn’t valued and he’s not valued. 

As a result of not feeling valued, Wayne doesn’t take the job seriously on Christmas Eve.  There is a crazy snowstorm, and since Wayne hasn’t prepped the landing site it doesn’t look like Santa will be able to stop at Timmy’s house to give him a present.  The situation looks dire, but luckily Wayne and his partner find a way to pull through and save the day.  On Christmas morning Timmy is seen saying, “Thanks Wayne” as he opens his gift.  Wayne sees this through the magic snow globe and finally realizes how important his work is.

How does this connect with work?  I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like Wayne before.  It’s easy to get lost when you are working in a place that’s so large.  It’s easy to wonder if what you do matters.  It’s easy to wonder if what you do has an impact.  If you ever feel like this I’d challenge you to take a step back to see what you are a part of.  Think about our business for a minute.  In order to turn an idea for a therapy into a drug and then to get that medicine to patients requires thousands of people, steps, and hand-offs along the way.  If any of those things don’t go well we aren’t able to help the people we serve.  For this to work we need everyone using their strengths and doing their thing.  The fact is, whatever piece you are in all of this, you are an important piece.

The challenge: Are you helping other people see how valuable they are and how important the role they play is?  By the way, In case someone hasn’t told you lately, thanks for what you do.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Short-term Sacrifices and Long-term Gain (11-22-17)

This will be the final entry in our series on time.  I know this was quick, but as they say, “Time flies when you are having fun.”  There’s a time for everything, and that includes bad jokes 😉  Anyway, we started by challenging ourselves to think about how we CHOOSE to invest our time.  Last week we thought about investing time in people.  This week I want us to think about saving money as it relates to saving time. 

Most of us have learned about saving money since we were little kids.  If you were anything like me, I had a piggy bank where I saved my allowance.  From there, I moved up to my first savings account.  Now, I have other savings vehicles like a 401k.  One of the things I’ve learned over time is that saving money is hard and there aren’t any shortcuts.  Saving money is not complicated, but it’s difficult.  It’s difficult because saving money requires you to have discipline to consistently put money away.  It also requires you to make a short-term sacrifice for long-term gains.  I know that if I don’t save now, I’ll be in trouble as I get older. 

You’re probably wondering what this has to do with work.  As I mentioned, saving money requires discipline and the willingness to sacrifice short-term for long-term gain.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not always great at having the discipline and investing the time to do things right the first time.  How often have you taken a shortcut at work that then caused more problems later on?  Maybe you didn’t set aside the time so you could really think through something, so when it was time to make a decision you weren’t prepared.  Maybe you didn’t take the time to create a clear communication plan, and instead just sent off a quick email that created more swirl.  Whatever the situation is, these issues occur because we don’t always have the discipline to invest our time appropriately.  We don’t always have the discipline to make a short-term sacrifice, which results in long-term problems that we can’t afford to have.

The challenge: Are you being disciplined enough to invest time now to save yourself from problems in the future?  How can you do a better job of creating short-term sacrifices for long-term gains?

By the way, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I hope you take the time to unplug and be with friends and family.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Investing Time in People (11-15-17)

Last week we kicked off a series on time and focused on spending time vs. spending money.  This week I’d like to challenge us to think about how we are choosing to invest our time in people.

Let’s pretend for a minute that you walked into the office and you saw a nickel on the ground.  You picked it up and put it in your pocket.  Later on when you see me, for grins and giggles you say, “I found this nickel.  It’s yours!”  Then you flip it in my direction.  I catch the nickel and say thanks.  Then, I say, “This is yours,” and I flip a dime over to you.  I walk away before you can ask me why I flipped you a dime.  A few days later you find a dime on the ground, you go through the same thing, and after you toss me the dime I toss you back a quarter.  You decide to keep experimenting and very quickly, you realize that if you give me money I’ll give you MORE money back than you give me.  It’s doesn’t matter if you give me a penny or $100 bill.  If you give me money, I’ll give you more back.  Besides trying to figure out why this is happening, what are you bound to do next?  I’m sure you would become very intentional about handing me money on a regular basis, so you could reap the reward from that “investment”.

What does this have to do with work?  The above situation is a winning situation for you, because you get MORE than what you give.  What if you could have the same situation at work?  I think you can.  Instead of giving someone coins you found on the floor, what if you spent a few minutes intentionally investing in them?  Your investments could be different things.  Maybe the investment is recognition, and your investment is a few seconds to send a nice email/text/note to someone to let them know you appreciate them.  Maybe the investment is giving some feedback to help them get better.  Maybe you take time out of your day to coach/mentor someone.  Whatever this looks like, you are taking your time and investing it in another person, and that investment is bound to turn into something.

How have you felt when someone invested time in you?  How did that change your relationship with that person?  How did that impact the work you did?  From my experience, the best leaders and people I’ve worked with have been the ones who have invested time in me in one way, shape, or form.  Sometimes the time they invested in me was a short few seconds and sometimes it was longer.  When people invested in me I did my best to give them back more and more.  As our relationship continued the time they invested in me became like a savings account that kept accruing interest.  If I feel like you are investing and invested in me I’ll give you hours of my life.  I’ll give you my energy.  I’ll give you my magic.  I’d hope that those things are worth more than the original investment of time that people placed in me. 

The challenge: Are you investing your time in people?  If I asked the people around you if you consistently invested in them, what would they say?

Take action: Invest time in someone today.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Monster Hunters, Preparation, and Tools (11-1-17)

This will be the last in a series of lessons we can learn from monsters.  We’ve reflected on werewolves and getting in the zone, the duplicity of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, frankesteining solutions, and inviting vampires into our lives.  This week we will focus on the lessons we can learn being monster hunters.

There are several characters that could be considered “monster hunters”.  These characters could include the Ghostbusters, Van Helsing, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, Hellboy, and the Winchester brothers from Supernatural.  The thing that all of these characters have in common is the way they prepare for their role and how they ensure they have the right tools for what they are fighting.  The best monster hunters don’t just show up guns blazing.  Instead, they take time to understand the situation and then choose the appropriate tools for the job.

For example, the Ghostbusters leverage knowledge from Tobin’s Spirit Guide that helps them better understand what they are facing.  Then, they use PKE meters to assess their situation and eventually use specifically designed proton packs and traps to capture ghosts.  Blade works with Whistler to design weapons that can exploit the weaknesses of his enemies, creating silver swords and UV lamps for vampires.  Once the monster hunter has prepared, they are able to win the battle. 

You might already be seeing the connections to work.  In the above situations, if the monster hunters don’t understand the situation, then they are unable to prepare.  In their case, being prepared is the difference between life and death.  When I think about us at work, how often do we pause to really understand whatever it is we are facing before we dive right in?  How often do we stop and say, “Oh, this is the problem I’m facing.  To beat this problem I’ll probably need to understand ____.  I should go find ____ tools or _____ frameworks or get advice from ______ to help us think through this.”?  This could apply to marketing problems, leadership issues, building culture, etc.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just rush in, and when I do I find that I’m not ready to take on the challenges.  When I rush in before I’ve truly thought about and prepared I often fail or fall short.  Now when I fail at work I might not get attacked by a vampire, but the failure and the swirl does suck the life out of me.  😉

The challenge: Before you take out your “monster” are you taking the time to prepare and grab the right “tools”?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Time and Money Problems (11-8-17)

This week I’d like to start a series about things relating to time and money.  I’d like us to start by challenging ourselves on how we think about spending time by sharing a story about a friend named Dave.

Dave is a friend of mine who lives in the Indy area.  He’s a good guy and a smart dude.  He has a solid job and makes pretty good money.  With that said, Dave is always borderline broke.  If you’d ask him about this he’d say something like, “I don’t know where all the money went.”  If you’d go over to his house you’d find a lot of junk he has purchased that he doesn’t need.  If you looked through his finances you’d see that he never took the time to set up a basic savings account or take advantage of things like a 401k.  Dave is always scrambling.  He might make it day to day, but he’s making things pretty hard on himself.  Do you know anyone like Dave?  At this point, if you’re anything like me I’m assuming that you are thinking, “It sounds like this Dave guy has a money spending problem.  He should do something about that.”  That would be a fair and accurate assessment.

What if the story about Dave isn’t about money?  What if Dave’s story is about time?  What if it’s about a talented guy who is always “so busy” and “never has time for anything” and “has way too many priorities.”?  What if the story is about a guy who always seems to be sprinting and exhausted?  Does that sound familiar?  Could that story be about you?  It could be about me sometimes.

How does this connect to anything?  Do you ever think about controlling, investing, and spending your time the same way you do with your money?  As I think about the story about spending money vs. spending time, I find myself intrigued by how we respond differently to them.  If the story is about spending money, I feel we often say, “Dave needs to fix his money spending problem.”  If the story is about spending time, I feel we are prone to say, “Life is just busy.”  If it’s about time we give Dave a pass.  We act like Dave has no ability to control and direct his time.  This isn’t the case.  Just like finances, Dave has the power, ability, and the tools available to him to take more control.  Whether or not Dave wants to admit it, he is CHOOSING not to control his money/time situation. 

I understand that life gets busy.  I understand that some periods of life you sprint harder than others.  My belief is that if you find yourself always sprinting and running around like crazy then something is wrong.  When I realize this is happening to me, I know the first place I need to look is inward.  Am I clear on what I want to accomplish as a human, husband, dad, and employee?  Am I prioritizing the right things?  Am I spending my time on the things that truly need to get done?   

The challenge: Are you controlling, investing, and spending YOUR time in an intentional way?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Inviting Vampires in (10-25-17)

Last week was about the classic Frankenstein monster and forcing things together.  This week I want us to reflect on the lore surrounding vampires.

Vampires are one of the scariest and most frequently written about creatures on the planet.  There are usually a few consistent elements of what it means to be a vampire such as feasting on humans, draining people of their blood/life, having mystical abilities, and being sensitive to the sun/UV rays.  Additionally, vampire lore can change drastically depending on the book you are reading or the movie you are watching.  One item from vampire lore is that vampires cannot enter a private residence without being invited in by the owner of the house.  This creates an interesting situation, because you end up having this all-powerful creature who in many instances is powerless until they are able to trick the owner of the home to invite them in.  Once the vampire is invited in, it’s not too long before they suck the life out of the host.

You have to be wondering what this has to do with anything.  The above vampire example focuses on how people invite a monster into their home and then how that monster causes disaster.  What if we do the same thing?  What I’d ask all of us to consider is, “How often do I invite challenges/drama/problems into my home?”  Much like a vampire, challenges/drama/problems can look attractive and seem harmless, until we invite them in and then they suck the lives out of us.  Have you ever been a victim of something like this?

Embry examples.  I invite feeling blah in, when I don’t take care of myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  It’s always possible to find an excuse for why I’m not taking care of myself.  Let’s face it, food that is bad for you tastes amazing and exercising is often the last thing on my mind.  I invite work “emergencies” and “fire drills” in, when I don’t take time to plan accordingly and set expectations.  It might be attractive to say, “I don’t need to spend the time planning that,” but it always gets me in the end.  I invite failure in when I don’t stop to think through the situation before acting.  It’s more attractive to run in and start doing stuff.  Doing stuff feels good, but how often do I start doing stuff to only realize I’ve been doing the wrong things?

Now, I’m not saying we are responsible for every bad or challenging thing that happens to us.  I know that life will bring challenges.  I’m saying that sometimes we make life more challenging for ourselves than we need to by doing things that invite in more troubles and complications. 

The challenge: Are you inviting in “vampires” that will suck the life out of you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Frankensteining Stuff (10-18-17)

Last week was about Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and how we are all multi-dimensional.  This week we will reflect on Frankenstein like monsters and forcing solutions together.  Shout out to Amy Meadows for the inspiration for this week’s post.  She actually made this comment during a meeting I was in about 1.5 years ago and it’s always stuck with me.

You are probably somewhat familiar with Frankenstein monster kind of stories.  The basic idea is that there is a mad scientist who is obsessed with creating something amazing.  Inevitably the scientist goes too far and ends up combining a lot of things that don’t belong together.  For example, the mad scientist will sew together parts from different bodies.  In some versions of these stories the scientist blends human and animal or human and machine.  Eventually, the scientist brings the creature to life and the creature wreaks some kind of havoc. 

You’re probably wondering what this has to do with anything.  How often have you worked on something that started out as one thing and ended up becoming a Frankenstein monster?  What I mean by that is, how often did you start with a simple idea and then by the time everybody added to it the idea no longer served its intended purpose?  Instead the idea became this conglomeration of stuff.  I know I see this on a regular basis.  Better yet, how often have you been the one who has tried to add and add and add stuff to something, even though it didn’t need to be added?  I know I’m guilty of doing this sometimes.

Over my career I’ve learned how important it is to have a clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish, and then ruthlessly sticking to that vision.  Without that clear vision and the discipline to stick to that vision, I end up going too far, just adding and adding and adding until the idea has become a monstrosity.  This monstrosity is then unable to serve its purpose and becomes unable to help the people we are trying to help.  In a collaborative environment where we work with hundreds of other mad scientists, it’s up to us to be clear on what we are trying to accomplish and why.

The challenge:  Are you clear on what you are trying to accomplish or are you giving life to a Frankenstein monster?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and being Multi-dimensional (10-11-17)

Last week we kicked off a series inspired by monsters by starting with werewolves, full moons, and finding your zone.  This week we will reflect on the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as it relates to people having many sides and components to their personalities.

You are probably slightly familiar with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  It’s a story that has played out and been remade in countless ways.  The idea is that Dr. Jekyll is a scientist who created a serum that he takes to transform into Mr. Hyde.  While Dr. Jekyll is a more reserved upstanding citizen, Mr. Hyde is more of a monster who gives into every whim and desire.  The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shows us that a person is both good and evil, controlled and chaotic, deliberate and impulsive, etc.  The story shows us the duality that lies within everybody.

How does this connect with work?  As the story shows, we are multi-dimensional.  We contain ideas, emotions, and behaviors that are sometimes in conflict with each other.  All of this comes together into a cool collage that is YOU.  While this multi-dimensionality makes people beautiful, it also creates challenges.  It’s also hard to see and understand all of these different perspectives of a person and how they fit together.  Also, sometimes it’s easy to miss seeing a side of someone, because it’s not always so visible.

For example, I’d guess that most people who know me would describe me as energetic, outgoing, etc.  To use insights colors they would say I’m yellow.  Last week, I was leading some market research in and there were times when we needed to make fast decisions, so the driver side of me came out in full force.  I was very direct, moving things along, quick, very much red.  Afterwards, I know some of my colleague were a little surprised to see that much red in me (probably because they don’t see the red come out with my kids.  I’m just saying my dad voice is on point).  Anyway, my colleagues haven’t seen that from me.  It was a little unexpected.  The thing is I’m both red and yellow.  I’m extroverted and introverted.  I’m a poet and a market researcher.  I’m a dad who loves his family and a guy who loves his job (I see you working parents).  I’m someone who doesn’t take life too seriously, and still takes my work very seriously.  I’m sarcastic and sincere (or at least I try to be).  I’m not just one OR the other.  I’m a combination of ALL of these things, and you are a combination of many emotions, ideas, and beliefs as well.     

The challenge: Are you trying to see, understand, and leverage the multiple sides that people have?  Are you trying to see, understand, and leverage the multiple sides you have?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry


Werewolves, Full Moons, and the Zone (10-5-17)

It’s now October, and there is something spooky in the air as we prepare for fall and Halloween.  It only seemed right to start a series inspired by monsters and other spooky things.  This week we will think about full moons, werewolves, and getting in the zone. 

Whether it’s the Wolfman, Teen Wolf, An American Werewolf in London, Underworld, or some other story, you’ve probably heard of werewolves.  The idea is that a person is cursed/blessed with the ability to morph from their human form to a wolf form.  In many versions of the stories, werewolves change with a full moon.  When they change they unleash the power that’s been trapped inside of them.  In many stories the transformation is so disorienting that the wolves can’t control themselves, while in other stories the wolves can harness, focus, and direct their skills.  In case you’re curious the next full moon is the Harvest Moon starting tomorrow.

You might be wondering what full moons and werewolves have to do with anything.  I think it’s fascinating that werewolves have a trigger that enables them to unleash their inner power and strength.  How cool would it be if we had a similar trigger that enabled us to unleash our true strength?  Imagine the possibilities and how much work and life would be different if we unleashed our true strength on a more regular basis.  While werewolves are fictional (supposedly) it is actually possible for humans to unleash their inner strength to perform at their peak state.  Often, this is referred to as getting “in the zone” or in a “flow state.”  Over the years I’ve read a lot of articles about this and I even took a Sports Psychology class in college that focused on this idea.  I personally most often experience flow states when I’m performing poetry or presenting.  When I’m in this zone, time slows, and everything I do is effortless.  If you want to read a short article about getting in the zone click HERE. 

Anyway, the more I read about being in “the zone” of in “the flow” the more I see that we can find ways to consistently get to this state.  In a way, we can unleash our inner werewolf.  Most of the things I’ve read suggest that in order to get in the zone you need to have the right routines and the right context around us.  When you have the right routines and right context then your subconscious mind is able to take over and you are able to perform at another level.  When it comes to routines, what do you do to get in the zone?  Maybe you have a song, an outfit, a motion, or something else you do to get yourself focused.  When it comes to the right context, are we putting ourselves in and creating the right environment?  The environment could be where you are and it could also be the culture you work in. 

The challenge: What are you doing to “get in the zone” and unleash your true strength?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry