Patios and Unplugging from Work (6-5-24)

This is the last in our series about patio furniture. This week will be about patios and unplugging from work.

Now that we have some comfy patio furniture and have created a better space, I’ve more or less made it a habit to spend a decent amount on my back patio every night. Sometimes, I sit back there and hang out with my family. We talk and catch up on the day together. Sometimes, I sit out there and read a book. Sometimes, I sit out there and just zone out, checking out the flowers, birds, and bunnies hopping along throughout the neighborhood. After a long day of handling work and family commitments, it’s nice to take a few moments to unplug and recenter.

What does this have to do with anything? Often when we talk about unplugging from work, we talk about unplugging over the weekend or during a long vacation. This implies that throughout the week we remain plugged into work. I know I’ve fallen into this cycle of feeling tethered to work all throughout the week and the pressure of always feeling on. Have you? I know that when I go through periods where I stay plugged into work around the clock I begin to burnout, which has a negative impact on all aspects of my life.

While it might not be as long as a weekend or as big of an adventure as vacation, I’ve found that my daily time hanging out on my patio has been incredibly valuable. Not only is it nice to unplug in the moment to enjoy time with family or appreciate the beauty around me, but it also has positive effects that last beyond that time on the patio. When I disconnect on a regular basis, even if it’s just for a few minutes, I feel more centered and capable of taking on what life throws my way. These little moments of unplugging are incredibly powerful, and I think we can all find moments like these in our daily life whether it’s chilling on a patio or engaging in another activity that makes you feel whole.

The challenge: How can you unplug and recenter on a more regular basis?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patio Furniture and Clarifying Roles in Decision Making (5-29-24)

Last week was about not overcomplicating solutions. This week we will explore patio furniture and clarifying roles in decision making.

I mentioned in our last entry that we had a family conversation about the patio furniture. During this conversation, my wife and I asked our kids what they wanted. They were excited to have input. At the

same time, we were very clear with them about their role in this decision. We explained that we would listen to everything they said, and at the end of the day, my wife and I were the final decision makers. I further stated that my wife’s preferences outweigh everyone else on this. My kids understood and appreciated the transparency. They still felt involved in the decision even if they didn’t have the final say so.

What does this have to do with anything? Is it just me, or does it feel too often that we try to make decisions by committee? While I understand the desire to include individuals, doing things by consensus and committee is incredibly slow and ineffective in a world that moves faster and faster. Additionally, making decisions in this way is incredibly confusing for everyone involved. If everyone believes that they have an equal say and equal decision-making power, then it’s easy for everyone to believe that all of their suggestions/feedback must be acted on.

While I don’t believe we should make decisions by committee, I do believe there is a sweet spot. That sweet spot requires you to identify who ultimately will be held accountable for the decision and who has the decision-making authority. It also includes being transparent with everyone that while you will hear all of their opinions it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be able to act on all of them. If you combine this with being clear about the decision making criteria (lesson from a couple of weeks ago 😉) then you have a decision making process that is inclusive AND fast.

The challenge- Are you clarifying who has decision making rights and how the decision will be made?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patio Furniture and NOT Overly Complicating Solutions (5-22-24)

Last week was about patio furniture and establishing decision criteria. This week is about patio furniture and not overly complicating solutions.

Especially in the spring and summer, my back patio becomes one of my favorite workspaces. As a result, when my wife and I first started talking about buying patio furniture she was concerned with us being able to buy something in the perfect set up to make it a great workspace. For example, it would need to be large enough to fit my laptop, keyboard, and mouse. Things would also need to be at the right height, so I wasn’t always staring down at a low screen. This was on top of the criteria that we had already decided was critical. I told my wife to ignore those things, and to stick to our key criteria because I would find a way to make it work. Check out the picture for my solution. #ergofriendly

You might wonder where this is going. I could have spent a lot of time, effort, and energy trying to find the perfect and elegant solution to set up my patio workspace. However, I embraced that I didn’t need perfection. I just needed something that worked. I found a cardboard box, flipped it on its side, and then added my laptop stand I have. My keyboard rests on my lap, and my mouse sits on the folio beside me on the couch. The box does the job, is easy to transport, and takes 1 second to set up. I use this cardboard box ALL THE TIME. It’s not pretty, but it solves my problem.

Now think about work for a minute. Have you ever overengineered a customer solution or a project deliverable? I know that I have. I’ve built things packed to the brim with features and benefits, when really the team just needed a “simple cardboard box”. Then, I would realize how much time and effort I wasted. Has that ever happened to you? As I’m further along in my career, I try to do a better job of understanding what the true need is and how to meet that need in the simplest way possible. By getting comfortable with the fact that most of the time I just need to deliver a “simple cardboard box” I can create the headspace and the time for when I need to deliver something with more features and benefits.

The challenge: How will you ensure you are not overly complicating the solutions you build and the outputs you deliver?

You get 278 bonus points if you read the message in the photo 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patio Furniture, Making Decisions, and Establishing Requirements (5-15-24)

Last week was about patio furniture and designing spaces to drive behaviors. This week is about patio furniture, making decisions, and establishing requirements.

Before purchasing the new patio furniture, my wife, kids, and I had a few conversations about what we wanted out of the furniture. We had talked about A LOT of different things. It began to feel a little overwhelming. Then, I sat down with my wife and we whiteboarded requirements. I’m dead serious. Few things are better than whiteboarding with a loved one 😉 We listed what were requirements vs nice to haves. The initial list of requirements was too long, so we ended up narrowing it down to 3-4 things that we absolutely needed to have. This level of clarity made the buying decision less overwhelming and so much easier. Now, we could look at all the options and say, “Out of all of them only X number meet our 3-4 requirements. If those meet our requirements there is no longer a wrong choice. Let’s just pick one and go.”

What does this have to do with anything? It’s easy for major projects or big decisions to feel daunting. It’s easy to become paralyzed by all the pressure that comes with these. I believe that most of the time when big projects or decisions are daunting, it’s because we are not clear enough on what success looks like. If we can clearly articulate the 3-4 things that would make us choose one option over another or if we can outline the 3-4 things that will make a project successful, then it’s so much easier to deliver.

The challenge- Have you identified the success requirements?

Bonus real world application– The other day I was talking to someone about skill development. They listed off about 10-15 topics that they could focus on. It was A LOT. They asked me which ones I thought we should invest in. Instead, I asked, “What is are the 2-3 things that these people need to be able to do.” They responded, “They need to be able to do X, Y, and Z.” My next question was, “Can they already do X, Y, and Z?” The person replied, “They can already more or less do Y and Z. X is the biggest gap.” This gave us clarity on our requirements. We didn’t need to tackle everything. We needed to create interventions that would drive the knowledge and enhance the skills, so people could do X. All of a sudden an overwhelming list of 10-15 things, turned into a much more manageable 3-4 things to do.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patio Furniture and Designing Spaces (5-8-24)

This week we are going to start a series inspired by patio furniture. We will begin by thinking about patio furniture and designing spaces.

Back in March, my wife and I started talking about getting some different patio furniture. At the time we had this large and super heavy hexagon shaped table made of wood with built in benches. It had managed to make it through quite a few years, but now the wood was warping, and the table was starting to fall apart. While the table was super durable, it wasn’t exactly comfortable and inviting. My wife and I wanted a space where we would all hang out and enjoy reading books, playing games, or just chilling. We kept this in mind as we went furniture shopping and focused on things that felt cozy and comfy. We set up the new furniture in early April, and we’ve already spent more time outside on that furniture than we did all last year on the old wooden table. (Side note-I know what you’re thinking. “Dang! I wish I could look as cool as Andrew.” Be patient folks. It took me years to get here.)

What does this have to do with anything? In the above story, my wife and I wanted to drive a specific behavior (having the family hang out together outside). We knew that we wouldn’t do this just by saying we needed to spend more time outside. Instead, we had to alter the environment to make it easier to spend time together outside.

Think about your environment. Does your environment make it easier or harder to achieve your desired behaviors? Maybe you have a personal goal to be more active, how are you designing your environment to make that easier? For me, I’ve found that if I set out my running gear the night before, then it’s so much easier to go for a run in the morning. As you think about work, how does your environment enable the right behaviors? Maybe, there are changes in the physical environment you could make. Maybe, it’s about setting up the right culture, so the desired behaviors become easier and are rewarded, while the negative behaviors are discouraged. Maybe it’s about having better meeting hygiene, where clear objectives make it easier to accomplish things.

The challenge- How will you design your environment to help you be successful?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Brand Extensions and Personal Branding (5-2-24)

Happy Thursday!

I thought I was done with the series on personal branding, but then the universe tapped me to write this one about brand extensions and personal branding.

What if I told you that Tide was going to open a laundromat? Would that make sense to you? I’m assuming you could see how that would fit with the Tide brand. The Tide brand stands for cleanliness and dealing with tough stains. Tide deals with tough stains as a liquid detergent, pods, and a to go pen. Having a Tide laundromat, isn’t too much of a stretch because of what the Tide brand stands for. If I told you that McDonald’s was going to open a laundromat, that would probably be a harder one to figure out 😉

What does this have to do with personal branding? If Tide only looked at itself as a laundry detergent, then it would have just stayed in that narrow space. Instead, Tide saw itself as a stain fighter, and realized that it had the opportunity to compete in any spaces that fight stains. On the personal branding side, I’ve had people in the past tell me that they wanted to expand and evolve their brand to help them switch career paths or do something different. They wanted to figure out how to do this in a way that made sense to other people, so those people would be willing to hire them and give them a shot. I think this comes down to two things. How narrowly do you define your brand? How well can you connect your brand essence to where you want to evolve?

I spoke to someone once who had a background as a scientist and was trying to establish themselves more as a marketer or market researcher. They were having trouble connecting their brand as a scientist to marketing. I explained that if they just saw themselves as a scientist, then there wasn’t much of a connection, because when people hear scientist they think of lab coats and experiments. If their brand is about being curious and about being intentional about testing hypotheses and leveraging data to make sound decisions (aka the scientific method) they start to sound like someone who works in market research or in marketing strategy. They had to step away from their initial narrow depiction of themselves, and then connect their essence to the problem needing to be solved.

The challenge- If you’re looking to evolve your brand, how do you define your brand? How do you connect your brand essence to where you’re going?

Bonus thought- During my Lilly career I’ve worked in sales, training, communications, market research, marketing, and my current market research innovation and capabilities role. On the surface, those things are very different from each other. On the surface, those brand extensions don’t make any sense. However, I don’t define my personal brand by a specific role. I’m a spark igniting storyteller. I tell stories that MOVE people. That’s what I do and enjoy doing and am good at doing. Using my energy and storytelling to move people is the golden thread that connects everything I do. When I’m on stage performing poetry, I move people to feel something. When I write blogs I move people to think differently. In sales I moved customers to try products. In training I moved learners to develop skills. In communications I moved people to think/feel/do certain things to accomplish organizational objectives. As a brand market researcher I moved people to make good business decisions, and there is something magic about this that brings me a lot of joy. In marketing I used tactics and channels to tell stories to move customers to do something. In my current role I try to lead people to take action to build a new future we are only beginning to imagine.

Bonus poem– I stumbled across a poem I performed about being in market research. It has some great tie ins to the essence of your brand and how it connects to opportunities. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-embry-979831b7_marketresearch-research-analytics-activity-7191644032991662080-QvGT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Personal Branding and Delivering Experiences (5-1-24)

This will be the last in our series on personal branding. Last week was about brand vs image. This week is about personal brands and delivering experiences.

I’m about to ask you to think about specific people. These can be people you personally know, or they could be people you don’t know personally.

Think of a person who is always comes through in a clutch moment.
Think of a person who is insightful.
Think of someone with a great business mind.
Think of a person who is an inclusive leader.

For each of those people, take a second to think about what they specifically did that made you associate them with that trait. For example, you didn’t think someone was insightful, just because they told you they were. They did something and created an experience that made you stop and say, “Whoa. That made me think differently. They have something special.” I can think of a very specific person. They do an incredible job listening and looking at the entire situation, and then they ask questions that challenge my assumptions. I walk away from every conversation feeling smarter, because they asked questions to guide me to a new realization.

How does this connect with personal branding? I’m assuming that in each of those situations you could quickly think of someone. That means they have a strong brand associated with that trait 😉 I’m also assuming that you could think of specific things they have done to make you feel that way about them. Said another way, they created experiences with you that influenced the way you see them. Now, reflect on the personal brand you want to have. What do you want to stand for? What actions are you taking to reinforce your brand? What kind of experiences are you creating for others, and do they support the brand you want to create? The experiences we create with others don’t have to be large gestures. Instead, it’s often the consistency of small experiences we create that reinforces our brands with others.

The challenge- What actions do you need to take and what experiences do you need to deliver to make your brand a reality?

Bonus– Since you’ve already though of some cool people today, why don’t you drop them a line to let them know you were thinking of them.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Personal Branding: Image vs Brand (4-24-24)

Last week we explored how your brand may not be for everyone and that’s okay. This week we will look at image vs. brand.

Apple has been recognized as one of the most powerful brands in the world. When you hear Apple, what do you think of? One of the first things that comes to mind is the sleek design of their products. The things Apple does just look cool. Now, I want you to imagine a world where Apple products all continued to have the hip trendy designs, BUT none of them worked well. How do you think the world would feel about Apple? I’m assuming that Apple wouldn’t be appreciated, because that would not be a good value proposition. While it’s true that image and design is a component of the Apple brand, it’s NOT the entire brand. The Apple brand also stands for things like innovation, technology, challenging the status quo, simplicity, being intuitive, integration, genius bar, and customer wow moments. Their brand is more than just image and aesthetic, it’s a combination of other intangible promises that Apple makes to consumers.

What does this have to do with personal branding? It’s easy to confuse the concept of image with brand. Your image and the way you present yourself are just part of your broader brand package. While these things are important, staying so focused on surface level elements distracts us from focusing on the true substance. Yes, we appreciate Apple because their products look cool. However, if the products looked cool and didn’t offer the other things Apple offers, they wouldn’t be worth much.

I was talking to an individual once, and they brought up how cognizant they are about shaping their brand. They talked about how much time they invest cultivating the right image online on LinkedIn and other social media sites. They also talked about looking the part when they attended networking events. I didn’t hear them talk about their unique genius, strengths, what they do, or how they do it. I didn’t hear them talk about the problems they solve or the value they provide. They were so focused on creating an image that they weren’t creating a brand that provides real value.

The challenge: As you build your personal brand, will you think beyond just shaping an image? Will you think about the unique genius and strengths that you bring?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Your Brand Is Not for Everyone… and That’s Okay (4-17-24)

Last week was about exploring the problems your personal brand uniquely solves. This week is about understanding you and your brand aren’t for everyone… and that’s okay!

I was in an interview once and they asked me what one of my favorite brands was. I explained that it was Sprecher Root Beer. I enjoy a high-quality root beer, and that’s exactly what Sprecher stands for. It’s root beer made with Wisconsin honey giving it a smooth taste. It comes in thick glass bottles. You only put things in glass bottles if they are worth something, and we all know beverages from glass bottles are always better than beverages from cans or plastic. Restaurants and places that carry Sprecher root beer show me that they care about quality and about doing things a little differently.

I imagine that most of you reading the blog this week don’t care much about root beer. You probably read the above paragraph and was like, “That’s nice… I guess.” You won’t think about root beer again or you’ll say to yourself, “A+W and MUG root beer are just fine.” All of this is okay. At the end of the day Sprecher is NOT a brand for everybody. It’s a brand for people who enjoy high quality root beer, and not everyone can be as awesome as me 😉

What does this have to do with personal branding? As humans, I think we naturally feel the pressure to please everyone, and as a result we want a personal brand that is liked by EVERYONE. I know I feel this way sometimes (or a lot of times). When this thought kicks in, I try to remember two things. First, pleasing everyone is impossible. Second, attempting to please everyone would require you to water down so much of who you are that you wouldn’t be you anymore. Much like Sprecher root beer, if your brand is truly built on you and who you are, then your brand shouldn’t be for everyone and for every situation. There is power in embracing this. Just because my brand doesn’t work for you and for a situation doesn’t mean it’s bad or I’m bad. It just means the situation isn’t the right fit, and having the right fit is more important than force fitting something.

The challenge: Can you accept that your brand isn’t for everyone and every situation? (Per previous challenges- Who and what situation is YOUR brand for?)

Bonus deep thought/confession: I’d argue that reflecting to define your brand is relatively easy. The harder thing is deciding to accept yourself (and your brand) for who you are, what you do, and how you do things. Earlier in my career I had this weird love/hate relationship with being known as this inclusive storyteller poet guy. (Truth be told, this love/hate relationship still continues sometimes, but it was fierce and brutal when I was younger). I had decided that “the world” only rewards people who are seen as “technically smart” in certain areas and often doesn’t appreciate “soft skills”. As a result, I had this inner battle and sometimes outward flinching even when people were giving me compliments about my inclusion and storytelling skills. It’s like I’d get irritated at them for seeing me for who I was, because I didn’t think who I was would be valued by the organization. People would give me compliments and I’d essentially be like, “Yeah, but nobody cares about that stuff. I need to do and be X.” Does that make sense to anybody? Have you ever felt that way? I often felt that I was less than and not good enough. Over time, I’ve come to realize and embrace that my inclusive nature and storytelling skills are superpowers that make me unique and enable me to make a difference wherever I am. If you ever go through something similar, I hope you ultimately stumble into this understanding and peace as well. (Side note, Tori Brown, if you are reading this, I know you’re smiling/laughing/smirking after having this convo with me a few times in my career. At least this shows I heard you 😉. Along those lines, I hope you all have a Tori Brown in your life who helps you realize you are just totally wrong and blind for not embracing yourself.)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

What Problem does your Brand Solve? (4-10-24)

Last week we started a series about personal branding and thinking about the space you own in someone’s mind. This week we will dive a little deeper and reflect on brands and the problem they solve.

Let’s pretend for a minute that you’re hungry and you’re looking to go somewhere to eat. Where would you go? What places immediately popped into your mind? Now let’s slightly tweak the problem you’re solving. You’re hungry AND you need to grab something relatively quickly. Where do you go? Maybe you think about Panera, Chipotle, or McDonalds. Let’s say you’re hungry AND you want a place where you can kick back and chill. Where do you go? My first thought is Moontown, a local brewpub. Let’s say you’re hungry AND are craving pizza. Where do you go? Maybe you think of a chain like Pizza Hut or maybe you think of a local pizza place.

You might be wondering how this connects with personal branding. All the above places could solve the generic issue of being hungry. However, each of them is best equipped to solve a more specific hunger related problem. Some brands focus more on speed, others on types of food, and others on the overarching experience they want to deliver. Similarly, I often hear people articulate their personal brand by saying things like, “I’m creative. I’m a leader. I’m a team player.” All those things could be true. They are also very generic and broad. They are often so broad that they end up representing a generic brand instead of a specific person. When I hear things like this I often say, “I hear the buzzwords, but I don’t hear YOU. Can you get more specific? What do you help with?”

I think all of us can address a variety of problems, and there are certain types of problems we are best equipped to solve. If you’re looking for someone to build detailed process maps, do hardcore editing of documents, code computers, understand/apply regulatory rulings, have/share deep medical expertise, embrace rigid standards, or run a large multi-billion dollar company I am NOT your guy. Those are all important skills, and they are NOT my strengths or passions. However, if you need someone to communicate something clearly and effectively, move people to take action, love/care for people, transform ambiguity into smaller parts so you can attack a problem, look at things from perspectives you wouldn’t think of, tell bad dad jokes, keep it real, bring the energy and funktastic flavor, or rock an awesome beard then call me 😉 Those are all problems that align with my passion and strengths. Those are the kinds of problems I’m more uniquely positioned to solve. That is what my brand is about (or at least I hope that’s how you experience me).

The challenge: What specific problems do you solve? When should people call you vs someone else?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry