Super Mario, Warp Pipes, and Looking for New Ways of Doing Things (3-23-22)

Happy Wednesday,

This is the last entry in our Super Mario series. We started with Super Stars and how we aren’t always invincible. We looked at Luigi and being brave enough to face fear. We thought about leveraging strengths and being curious about each other. This week is about Super Mario, secret warp zones, and looking for different ways of doing things.

The original Super Mario Brothers game was a simple side scrolling game. When I first played the game as a little kid, I assumed that I would need to fight through EVERY single level. The layout and design for the first level made it clear that the screen would scroll in one direction and that I needed to reach the flag at the end of each level to complete it. I ASSUMED I would need to repeat this process over and over and over again. However, I was wrong. If you kept your eyes open and tried new things, you could find hidden passages aka warp zones that could enable you to skip entire worlds. See the picture.

What does this have to do with anything? While work isn’t a side scrolling video game, it is a system comprised of standard rules, approaches, processes, and frameworks that we use daily. In some ways, all those things help us move faster. However, sometimes, those things become programming that we start to follow without realizing it. Similar to my experience with Mario, we get so used to the way things are designed that we don’t question if those rules, approaches, processes, and frameworks are always the best ones. One of my mantras is “There is always the hidden option.” It doesn’t mean that I necessarily know what the hidden option is. It doesn’t mean that the hidden option is always best. Instead, it’s a constant reminder that I shouldn’t allow myself to become so comfortable in the status quo that I stop searching for something better. Who knows if exploring a little bit outside of the status quo might help us find our own warp zone to better serve our customers?

The challenge: Will you break the status quo and keep your eyes open for a new way of doing things?

Bonus real world example: Last fall I had A, B, C workstreams I wanted to work on in parallel. I was told that our processes dictated that I only do one at a time, so I’d have to do A then B then C. Doing the projects in this way was the standard approach, but it would also add weeks to our timelines and make us miss our deadlines. Instead of accepting this, I researched the process. I realized technically we could work on A, B, and C simultaneously, even though we normally didn’t do it that way. I called the person who owned the process, explained the situation, and how we could work on A, B, and C at the same time and still be compliant with the process. They basically said, “That’s different, but you can still do it. I just need you to email Bob and then make a note in the system about this, so we remember.” All of a sudden, the things that couldn’t be done because of the process were now being done. We were able to work on A, B, and C to hit our deadlines, and all I ended up doing was researching a process, having an extra conversation, and sending an email. It was about 30 minutes of work to shave weeks off our timeline. It’s all because I kept my eyes open for the hidden option when I hit a wall, and I found that warp pipe to get us to where we needed to be.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cooking, Messiness, and the Price of Greatness (4-22-20)

Last week was about mosaics, diversity, and inclusion. This week is about the art of cooking and the price of greatness. It was a Saturday morning. I woke up and cleaned the house from top to bottom with the help of my daughters. If they help they get more screen time, and that is a huge motivator (#parentinggenius). Anyway, that morning I had deep cleaned the kitchen. The counters were spotless. The sink was gleaming. The dishwasher was empty, and the stove looked like it was brand new.

Later that night my wife was baking. She looked at the ingredients she had spilled on the island, the dirty dishes littering the counters, the smudges on what I had perfected earlier that morning and she said, “I’m sorry I just ruined the kitchen you cleaned.” Without missing a beat, I responded, “That’s the price of deliciousness, and I’m happy to pay that.” (#smooth #getonmylevel) Sure, I had worked hard on cleaning the kitchen. Yes, she had completely ruined my hard work in a matter of minutes. However, my wife is an amazing baker, and I knew whatever she was creating was going to be incredible, and well worth the mess. I could always clean the kitchen again, but I can’t easily reproduce what my wife makes.

How does this connect with anything? Cooking, like any other art, is an expression of creativity that can lead to greatness. More importantly, in my experience creativity makes things messy on its way to greatness. Sometimes it’s messy in the form of a dirty kitchen or spilled paint. Sometimes it’s messy in the form of whiteboards with arrows everywhere and conversations where people are thinking out loud while wading through the mud to get somewhere.

Getting to greatness is always a bit messy, so it’s important to be aware of how you respond to this messiness. There are some individuals who get frustrated by the messiness and try to shut it down. They don’t want to allow things to move forward until they are perfect. This creates a stifling environment where people aren’t comfortable sharing and exploring ideas. There are other individuals who are comfortable with the messiness, because they know it is the price you have to pay for greatness. These individuals let things play out, ask questions to help others think through things, and ultimately are patient enough for the messiness to transform into something. What kind of person are you?

The challenge: Will you get frustrated by the messiness and stifle creativity? Or, will you recognize messiness is the price that must be paid for greatness?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Mindsets, Thinking Outside the Box, and Creativity (2-8-17)

Over the past couple of weeks we have talked about mindsets, limits, and boxes. This week I want us to think about mindsets and a skill that is typically associated with “thinking outside the box.” I want us to challenge ourselves to see if we have the right mindset to unlock our inner creativity. This week’s entry is partially inspired by an article I read a few years ago. Click HERE to read the article. It’s a quick read with some great thoughts (much better than the drivel you read on Wednesdays).

Creativity is a common business buzzword as in, “We need more creativity. We need creative thinking to solve problems.” The problem is that when people talk about creativity they often overly romanticize it. They make it sound like you are either creative or you are not. They make it sound like people who are “creative” are privy to some secret ability to summon a muse at command and unlock genius. (This isn’t true. I know from first-hand experience. I have to sacrifice a goat while watching the Sound of Music on mute and listening to Justin Bieber music playing backwards). On top of this, people often associate creativity with the arts, writing, painting, sculpture, etc. and they don’t associate creativity with other work or manners of expression.

The thing is creativity doesn’t quite work like that. Creativity isn’t just about a natural ability. Instead, creativity is in large part a mindset. In the article there is a quote about how creativity is just connecting things. The mindset part of creativity is believing that things can be connected and that there are always more dots to find and connect. The execution part of creativity is connecting dots. Overall, if you believe everything can be connected and if you believe you can find more dots, then sooner or later you start connecting them. If you do this enough, you become one of “those creative people”.

How does this connect with our work? Creativity is not fixed and creativity exists outside of the arts. Creativity exists in connecting data to insights. It exists in connecting strategy to objectives to execution. Creativity exists in those Excel masters who connect Excel dots in the form of numbers, functions, programs, charts, mathematical formulas, and tableau style graphs (that’s for you Cam). Creativity exists in those leaders who find ways to connect with the people they lead by connecting motivation with purpose with culture with role and so many other things. No matter how you unleash your creativity, it requires the same two things: mindset and execution.

The challenge: Does your mindset lead to you unleashing your creativity? Are you recognizing the creativity of others that you normally wouldn’t deem as “creative”? Recognize someone for their creativity today.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lessons from Being a Dad Part 1 Alice, Eye Patch, and Creativity (6-10-15)

Over the next few weeks, I want to share a few more lessons I have learned since becoming a dad. This week’s story is about letting your imagination run a little wild. It’s a typical Sunday morning at the Embry house. I’m playing tag with Alice (3) and Eye Patch (her stuffed pirate octopus). I get close to tagging Alice, who is carrying Eye Patch, and Alice yells, “Ink! Eye Patch is squirting ink! You can’t see us! We are getting away!” I think to myself, “She’s pretty clever. Where did she learn that an octopus can squirt ink?” I wipe the ink from my eyes and keep chasing her. There are a couple of more ink blasts and then out of nowhere Alice yells, “Honey. Eye Patch is squirting honey! Now you’re all sticky and stuck!”

Now, I’m laughing. I stop the game and say, “Eye Patch can squirt honey?” With a straight face Alice responds, “Eye Patch can squirt ink, honey, and books for you to read!” At this point I just lose it laughing. I love the imagination and creativity. I’m glad that she hasn’t been taught to limit herself, and if I do my job her imagination will continue to run wild.

What does this have to do with us? As I mentioned, Alice had these ideas, because she hasn’t been taught to limit herself yet. When we are young kids we all have pretty active imaginations, but over time the world tells us to limit ourselves until dreaming big becomes difficult. As leaders, how are we helping people unlearn these limits? What are we doing to help them dream big?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry