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

Taking Things Apart, Exploring, and Being Curious (8-16-23)

Last week was about defaulting to compassion. This week is about taking things apart, exploring, and being curious.

This week kicked off our 4^th year of homeschool. On top of my wife teaching the kids at home, they also have a couple of co-op programs they attend. This semester my wife is teaching a class at the co-op that is all about taking things apart. On Monday she brought in a bunch of old printers that people had donated to her. She gave the class their own set of safety goggles and tools, a quick lesson about tools and safety, and then let them get to work dismantling the printers. The class LOVED this! They went right to work with their tools, carefully deconstructing the printers to gain a deeper understanding of how they worked. They loved having their curiosity guide them as they explored things they hadn’t seen before. At the end of the class, they asked my wife if they could keep some of the pieces from inside the printers to keep studying.

What does this have to do with anything? Have you ever been in a situation where you thought to yourself, “Why wasn’t that person more curious? If they would have just asked a few more questions they could have figured it out instead of jumping to a poor solution?” I know I’ve thought things like that. Have you ever been the person who didn’t take the time to explore? I’ve been that person too.

Our story this week is all about taking the time to be curious and explore something. I’m assuming that many of us were like those kids when we were younger. Maybe we loved taking things apart with our hands. Maybe we loved asking zillions of questions to understand how EVERYTHING works. As we get older, it’s easy to lose that curiosity. It’s easy to get so caught up that we lose the willingness to explore things. As a result, we miss out on the chance to think critically about how things work and we miss out on opportunities to make things better. Just think about how much better work and life would be if we all spent a few extra moments from time-to-time deconstructing and exploring things, whether they are policies, machines, relationships, or our own feelings.

The challenge: How will you make the time to explore and be curious?

#mywifeisprettyamazing

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Tough Conversations and Being Curious vs Judgmental (8-2-23)

Last week was about transforming experiences with a little effort. This week is about tough conversations and being curious vs judgmental.

A few weeks ago, my dad told me that he wanted to talk to me about parenting and my kids. Right now, I’m assuming that a fair amount of you reading this are cringing, because you can see how quickly this can go poorly. Parenting easily can feel extremely personal. I’ve been in those situations where the conversation is just a sneaky way for the person to judge you and tell you everything you’re doing is wrong without understanding your situation. Have you? Those chats don’t particularly feel good. The conversation with my dad wasn’t anything like that. It was a great chat, because the moment we sat down he made it clear that he wanted to understand things from my perspective.

He starts by admitting that he can only see one part of what is going and that he doesn’t have the full story. He also acknowledges that the rules have changed a lot from when he and my mom raised my brother and me. This sets the stage that this is a conversation to learn and not judge. From there we dive in. He shares an observation he has and how he is connecting the dots based on his experience. I respond by saying that I also have seen what he has observed, and I can see how he connects the dots the way he does. Then, I offer some additional context he doesn’t see every day and how that’s shaping the parenting decisions we are making. We keep repeating this pattern as we dive deep. We talk about parenting in a completely different world and entirely different challenges he and my mom didn’t have to encounter. We talk about mental health and navigating how to parent and lead in a family with neurodivergence. I talk about how we are thankful to have therapists to help us navigate situations that I’m not equipped to lead through. We talk about my family’s decision to homeschool, and how we are constantly balancing mental, physical, emotional, and social health with that decision. We talk about the fine balance between showing support and raising resilient kids, especially in a world that may not accept them. I share how I feel I’m over my head sometimes, because there isn’t an obvious playbook to navigate all these situations and sometimes it’s just about making the best trade-offs with the information we have. Throughout all of this, my dad asks follow-up questions to better understand and shares how he had never considered some of the angles before. By the end of everything, I can’t say that my dad fully understands or fully agrees with all my decisions. It would be hard to fully understand without being in the same situation. At the same time, I can say that he has a deeper understanding and that he is not passing judgment. I left the conversation feeling so good that we had it, and blessed I have a dad I can talk about these things with.

What does this have to do with anything? Think about work and life for a minute. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you were going to have a conversation to share ideas, when the other person just wanted to pass judgement? Have you ever been that person who passed judgment instead of seeking to understand? I know I’ve been that person. We like to think that we are open minded and non-judgmental, but how true is that? How open are we to learning and considering something different from what we believe? In our story this week, there are so many ways that conversation could have went poorly and ultimately caused harm to our relationship, but it didn’t because my dad approached things from a place of genuine curiosity.

The challenge: Are you TRULY seeking to understand? How open are you to learning and growing?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Shy Guy and Allowing Ourselves to be Curious (3-16-22)

Last week was about leveraging our strengths and the strengths of others. This week is about Shy Guy and allowing ourselves to be curious.

Shy Guy is a relatively minor side character and Super Mario enemy. See the image. A few years ago, I stumbled across an image of Shy Guy and I paused. This character I had known since I was a little kid, now had piqued my curiosity. There was something intriguing about a character wearing a mask and robe. As I looked at him, I began to wonder. What is his story? What are some of his favorite memories? How does he feel about things? As I explored my curiosity, I began to write different things. “Shy Guy doesn’t talk much but has journals full of sweet love poems.” and “Shy Guy wears a mask, so the world can’t see him snickering.” From there I began to write poems further exploring who he is. As I did this, I quickly realized this quirky character had more depth than I ever imagined. (Poems are at the bottom of this blog if you’re intrigued.)

What does this have to do with anything? I gave myself permission to be curious about Shy Guy and it led me to explore and better understand a character I had never given a second thought to. We live in a world focused on speed and rushing, which often interferes with our ability to slow down and be curious. Imagine what would happen if we gave ourselves permission to be more curious about our work and the people we work with. Imagine how we would have a deeper appreciation for each other if we gave ourselves permission to spend a few more valuable minutes trying to understand someone’s story, their motivation, and the way they see the world. Imagine how much stronger our relationships would be. Imagine how much more beauty we would see.

The challenge: Are you giving yourself permission to be curious and explore?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Shy Guy Poems

Shy Guy and Soul Music
3 months. 13 days.
Shy Guy sneaks around his house.
Stealthy.
Silent.
He doesn’t want the curtains to know.
He pounces, shutting them.
The house entirely dark
he stumbles over furniture to find the light.
He curses as he trips.
He peeks outside one more time.
No one is watching.

He blows the dust off the record player.
Memories float up into the air with the dirt specks.

He thinks of his mother,
clutching his hand and his teddy.
Showing them how to twist.
The pearls around her neck
moving in time with the music.

Shy Guy has never been to church,
but is convinced this is soul music.
James Brown.
Funk starts hitting Shy Guy like a wrecking ball,
making the walls he built around himself crumble.

Slowly.
His foot starts tapping.
Slowly.
He smiles again.
Slowly.
He begins peeling back the curtains.

Andrew Embry 2010

Shy Guy Haiku 1

Mask over his mouth.

Hooded robe over body.

He tells no secrets.

Shy Guy Haiku 2

Black holes for his eyes.

Nothing escapes his strong gaze.

No words leave his mouth.

Shy Guy Haiku 3

Mario villain.

Koopa henchman is a monk.

Meek inherit earth.

(Shy Guy) Mask over Heaven

His blackhole eyes consume literary galaxies
with stars and the heavens swirling.
Gravity so strong words cannot escape him.
Not even these,
so fragile
with black ink so faded.
He puts down Milton for the night.

His fingers fiddle with folds of his fierce fire fleece hooded robe.
He places the book down on his nightstand.
His mask beside it.
His beads are already on the door
moving with the night breeze like purple butterfly wings.
With the cloister so quiet
he ruminates
on his own paradise lost.

Andrew Embry 2010

(Shy Guy) Unzipping Closed Secrets

He only speaks before bedtime.
Shy Guy whispers secrets into ziploc bags.
Presses his fingers hard together
sealing every last syllable in tight.

She receives the gift.
Shy Guy blushes burgundy in a white mask.
Surprise!
How can empty ziploc bags weigh so much?

Andrew Embry 2010

Being Curious and Exploring (9-8-21)

Last week was about the power of yet. This week we are going to jump to my college years and a lesson about being curious and searching for more than what is in front of me.

Professor Skinner was my marketing professor at Butler and one of my favorite professors of all time. Her class was about marketing, but more importantly it’s about how the world works and how you can have success in the real world. She held a high bar and elevated you to reach it. She also had a knack for teaching important lessons in simple and powerful ways. When I took her class she would often assign us articles to read as homework and then we would have a short quiz about the article during the next class. I had read the article and was taking the quiz when I realize there is a question about something I don’t remember seeing. This confused me, because I have a pretty good memory. I turn in the quiz to her and say something like, “That one question was tough. I didn’t remember reading anything about that in the article.” She smiles and says, “When you read the article it pointed you to go and learn more in one of the links The question is about that. I want you and others like you to be curious and go looking for more information.” I leave the class and I’m thinking, “That’s a punk move, Skinner!” but then I calm down and realize the genius of the lesson. We need to be curious enough to search for things and explore what’s in front of us.

How does this connect to work? Our jobs are to serve others. There is no simple article on this. When you get a new project there isn’t a 1 page synopsis that tells you everything you need to know. You might start with a little bit of information, but it’s up to you to go find the rest. When I think of the best work I’ve done, it’s because I was curious enough to go the extra step. I was curious enough to go talk to the one extra person, to read the one extra piece of research, to ask the one extra question, and to click on that link on the side of the page that will give me more information. 😉

The challenge: Are you limiting yourself to what’s on the “article” or are you being curious and hunting for more information?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Problem Definition and Asking the Right Questions (1-24-18)

Throughout my time in market research I’ve picked up on a few fundamental lessons and skills that are transferable to other situations and life in general, so this week we’ll kick off a series inspired by lessons I’ve learned while working in market research. We’ll start this series by exploring problem definition and the idea that that you are only as good as the questions you ask.

My car is currently making a ticking noise. What should I do? Should I fix it? It depends on my understanding of the problem and its implications. These seemingly straight forward and simple questions are actually not that simple or straight forward. The assumption is that if something is broken I should fix it. However, if I pause for a second and ask some questions I may not come to that conclusion. What do I think is wrong with the car? How big of a deal is the problem? Why would I want to fix it? What is the car worth? How much would I be willing to spend on a repair before it wasn’t valuable? In my case the car is a 10 year old Pontiac Sunfire with over 200,000 miles. The ticking isn’t a serious problem, and instead it’s just an annoying sound. Even if it was a serious problem, I’m running the car into the ground anyway, so it’s not worth spending the money for me. Bottom line, I’m not going to pay to have it fixed. However, if the car was newer and the sound was serious I might come to a different conclusion and decide to fix it.

How does this connect to work? Over my career I’ve realized that everyone (myself included) makes a lot of assumptions about things and we often rush to fix the wrong problem or problems that don’t really matter. It’s really easy to see some bit of data or to see a problem and instantly decide we need to do something about it. Do you ever fall into this trap?

In my market research role, a big chunk of my job is working with my partners to define what problems we are trying to solve and I’ve learned that I’m only as good as the questions I ask. As a result I’ve tried to get better at pausing and thinking through things. Instead of running in and trying to solve the problem, I’m trying to evolve to be more like, “Yes, that’s a potential problem. How big is that problem? Is it a problem we need to solve? Why or why not? Is it even a problem we think we could solve? Do we need to solve that problem at the expense of these other problems we think we need to solve? Are we confident we are even solving the right problem? If I got you an answer, how would you use it to solve your problem?”

Once we get through those questions, if we still need to solve it, then we can start trying to figure out potential solutions. However, you’d be amazed at how often I’ve worked through those questions and I’ve come to realize I was trying to solve the wrong problem, trying to solve a problem that our customers don’t really care about, or trying to solve a problem the wrong way.

The challenge: If you are only as good as your questions, are you taking the time to ask questions to better understand and define the problem?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lessons Learned from being a Dad Part 1- Be Curious (8-13-14)

Over the next few weeks the theme is going to be “Lessons I’ve learned since becoming a dad”. Whether we have kids or not, I think we can all relate to these stories.

A few weeks ago I went on a 40 minute walk with Alice, my 2 year old, and we didn’t make it more than a half mile away from either side of the house. Every couple of steps she would stop to make some kind of an observation. “Hmmm, a stick. Cracks (in the sidewalk). Broke. Rocks. Whoa, big rocks! Kitty cat! Puppy!” She was pointing out anything that could potentially be interesting. I’m sure you’ve been in this boat before too with a young child.

There is something magical about the way a child views the world. Everything they see is new. Everything is worth noticing. Everything is a mystery waiting to be solved. In that 40 minute walk with Alice she helped me notice more things about the area right around my house than I had in the past year. I know it sounds corny, but one of my first thoughts after our walk was, “I hope she doesn’t grow out of her curiosity.”

Often, we lose our curiosity as we get older, and what was once novel becomes a series of patterns that we no longer acknowledge. We do this with things, but we also do this with people. Think of all of the uncharted territory that we could explore that we just don’t take advantage of. Imagine all of the additional information we would seek out and explore if we would be as curious as little kids. Imagine how we would be able to use our curiosity to find new connections and discover new solutions to ever changing problems. Think about all of the patients we could help in the process.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Bonus lesson from Alice: Be you. Yes. That’s my daughter wearing a batgirl outfit with a sparkly dress dragging a stuffed “tick tock croc” (crocodile) on a sled for a walk to the park. Some ask why, but Alice asks, “Why not?” Hopefully she never loses her muchness…