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

Legos, Change Management, and Knowing What You are Building (4-15-26)

This week we are going to kick off a series focused on Legos and change management. By the end of this, we will build concepts that you can leverage to lead change management efforts. The first entry in this series will be about the importance of knowing what you are building.

Imagine for a minute that I dump a bunch of Legos in front of you and ask you to build something that is faster. I then tell you that it’s important you get this right. If you miss there will be negative consequences. From here, I don’t give you any additional clarity. How would you feel? What kind of a thing would you build?

Now, assume I go back to you and I show you this picture of a rocket house, and say this is what we are trying to create. Would you have naturally built something like this? How much rework would you need to do to create something like this rocket house?

Let’s make some connections. If you were in our Lego situation above, I bet you would have felt frustrated. You also likely would have wasted a lot of effort creating something that looks nothing like the rocket house. At the end of the day, one of the most important steps in change management is being able to articulate where you’re going. If we are unclear on where we are going, we can’t build something to get us there.

Think about your experiences at work. How often has there been an organizational effort that was unable to paint a clear picture of where the company is trying to go? The company might use all the right buzzwords. They might say, “We are transforming. We are trying to move faster. We are trying to deliver better experiences. We are becoming more agile.” The buzzwords are not the same as clear direction. As leaders, we need to be able to articulate a clear vision if we want to lead people to new destination.

The challenge- How will you paint a clear picture of where we are trying to go?

Bonus thought

For the record, I’m not claiming I’m perfect at change management. The reflections from this series are reminders for me as much as they are for anyone else. This stuff is hard and requires intentionality to do it well.
If you recognized the rocket house as Emmet’s dream house from The Lego Movies, then you get 579 bonus points.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry