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

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

Transforming Experiences with a Little Extra Effort (7-26-23)

Last week was about creating spaces where people can be real. This week is about transforming experiences with a little extra effort.

We stayed home during the week of July 4^th. We did a few small things like rode our bikes, played miniature golf, shot water guns, and did some crafts. It wasn’t anything too cool, but if you talk to my kids they light up and get excited like it was the best week ever. Here’s why. We all love the most recent Legend of Zelda video game, so I thought I could make things a little more special if I put in a little effort to make July 4^th a Zelda inspired week. Instead of just doing activities, I connected those activities to events that happen in the game. For example, we had to explore the land to find Zora’s Domain (bike riding). We had to save a town from pirates (miniature golf at a pirate themed place). We tried the Goron minecart shooting game (water gun fights). We built signs to show President Hudson we support him (structures made of spaghetti, pipe cleaners, and marshmallows). I hid bananas on our front porch and said they were left from the Yiga clan. Now, some of those things may not have meant much to you, which is totally okay. My kids got all the references and enjoyed how they tied the activities we did to a game we all love.

What does this have to do with anything? Every single day we create experiences for people around us. We might create experiences for customers who use the products we support. We might create experiences for teammates and co-workers. How would you describe the experiences you create for others? Are they positive? Are they neutral? Are they negative? Are they meaningful? In the grand scheme of things, the activities I did with my kids (bike riding, miniature golf, crafts) weren’t that unique or impressive. However, the moment I put in a little extra effort to connect those activities to a something my kids cared about, the experience transformed into something more special. By being a little more intentional and putting in a little more effort we can create experiences that truly resonate with others.

The challenge: How are you enhancing the experiences you create for people?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Secret Behind the Disney Magic (3-8-23)

Happy Wednesday,

Last week was about employee engagement and pixie dust. This week is about the secret behind the Disney magic.

When people talk about Disney, they also usually talk about the magic of Disney. Magic is that little something extra that makes the moment enjoyable and memorable. It could be a Disney staff member stepping in at just the right moment to turn a wrong into a right. It might be a little surprise waiting for you in a Disney resort. It might be the feeling you get as you walk through Galaxy’s Edge and see your favorite Star Wars characters coming to life. You would think that incredible moments like this would only happen once in a while, but at Disney they happen quite often.

Do you want to know a secret? Technically, anyone could do the same thing that Disney does. It’s not magic. Instead, it’s being extremely INTENTIONAL about creating amazing customer experience. They design the place, processes, and choose the right people who all combine to routinely create memorable magic for folks. They think through every touchpoint, every opportunity, and determine how to instill magic in that moment. There is no top secret patented magic formula. Other companies could do these things. They choose not to.

What does this have to do with anything? Think about the experiences you deliver to other employees. Do they contain magic? Are there moments that make the person on the receiving end, pause and smile because they feel so seen and valued? The best leaders I have ever been around found a way to consistently deliver this magic. It wasn’t anything incredibly fancy. It wasn’t anything that others couldn’t do. They delivered this magic, because they were intentional and consistent day in and day out. Now think about the experiences you’re delivering to customers. Do any of those have magic in them? What would it take to make more of these customer experiences feel magical?

The challenge: How can you be more intentional about creating magical moments for other employees and for customers?

Bonus- Speaking of magic, I recently performed this poem at our Neuroscience National Meeting. If you want a little fire and inspiration, give it a listen. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-embry-979831b7_whowantstheball-poetry-poetryatwork-activity-7037083285360975873-V3hz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Garage Door Motors and Customer Solutions (5-18-22)

Last week was about fixing garage door sensors and seeing things through the eyes of our customers. This week we will continue our garage door story and look at right sizing solutions.

As I mentioned last week, basically everything about the garage door except the door itself broke. After the guy assessed the damage, he came back to me and offered a few different estimates. One of the key differences in the estimates was the price of the motor that physically opened the garage door. Naturally, I asked him the difference between the more and less expensive motors. The basic model was a solid garage door motor that would last for years. The upgraded model was also dependable with regards to opening the door for years to come PLUS it had a brighter garage light, a built-in camera, and blue tooth capabilities so I could open and close the garage with my phone. I looked at the repair man and explained, “The upgraded model sounds really cool, but I just need something that can open and close the door.” I appreciated the fact that he wasn’t a pushy salesperson. He recognized that I was a consumer who didn’t care about all the bells and whistles, so he proceeded to give me the solution that fit my needs.

How does this connect to anything? In the above example, the upgraded garage door motor is not bad. In fact, there are some people who would likely appreciate and benefit from what the upgraded motor has to offer. It’s just not what I need. The best thing the repair person did was understand who I am as a customer and then tailored his solution offering to me. Tailoring solutions isn’t easy. I don’t know about you, but throughout my career which has spanned sales, communications, training, market research, and marketing, I’ve found that when we build solutions it’s easy to lose sight of who we are building for. In all these roles I’ve had moments where I became so enamored with what I thought was cool that I didn’t pause to think about whether it would ultimately serve my customer. Has this ever happened to you? Much like the repair person, we could probably all benefit from making sure we understand the people we serve and better tailoring to their needs.

The challenge: Are you building solutions to be cool for you OR are you building them to meet the needs of our customers?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Garage Door Sensors and Seeing Through the Eyes of our Customers (5-11-22)

This week we will kick-off a series inspired by home improvements. We’ll start by looking at garage door sensors and seeing things through the eyes of our customers.

The other night we heard a random noise, and then the next morning the garage door couldn’t open. I called a repair person to come and check it out. My wife told me to make sure I had him look at the sensors. She explained they annoyed her sometimes because they were so finicky and would stop the door from closing properly. The repair person arrives and basically everything is broken EXCEPT the door itself. While the sensors weren’t broken, I mentioned that my wife had issues with them from time to time and I’d have to adjust them once every couple of months to get them working. It wasn’t a big deal, but still asked if he could do anything to help with those.

He replaced all the broken parts and hooked us up with new sensors (see beautiful picture). Fast forward a few days and my wife is raving about how the repairs have changed her life. I was confused why she was so excited about a working garage door. She told me she was excited the sensors worked. That’s when I learned that although I might have only been adjusting them once every couple of months, she was having almost daily fights with the sensors. I was only being notified of the issue if she was unable to get it to work. This revelation put her desire for new garage door sensors in a new light.

What does this have to do with anything? In the above situation, I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of the sensor problem. I was only seeing the tip of the iceberg. I was so fixated on MY experience with the garage door sensors that I never stopped to consider that my wife could be having a different experience. If I would have known how troublesome the sensors were, I likely would have tried to do something to fix them sooner. As I reflect on this story, I can’t help but see the parallels to being customer centric. As we serve our customers, how often do we truly understand their needs? More importantly, how often do we truly understand the magnitude of what they are going through? The things that might seem small to us, might be significant to the people we serve. The only way we can help them is by walking in their shoes and truly seeing the world from their perspective.

The challenge: Are you seeing situations through the eyes of your customers?

Bonus thought: Take the above learning about customers and apply it to the people you lead. Do you truly understand things from their perspective?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Market Research and being Objectively Passionate (2-14-18)

Last week was about market research, being a security guard, setting up velvet ropes, and establishing decision criteria. This week is what I’ve learned about being “objectively passionate” on behalf of our customers. I’ll dive more into that in a moment, but first an analogy.

Pretend for a moment that you are a master brewer and in particular you love beer and love making beer. You are going to open a bar where you will serve beer and other beverages you’ve created. When you look at your potential market you see there are a lot of people like me and a lot of people like my wife (Diane). You know that Andrews like a variety of beers and enjoying experimenting with new things. You know Dianes don’t like beer of any kind (AT ALL) and instead prefer fruity tasting beverages. As a master brewer, how much time do you invest in trying to make a beer that Dianes will like? I’m assuming you wouldn’t try to make beer for Diane, because she doesn’t like beer at all and your chances of changing her are slim to none. Instead, you’d probably try making different beers to entice Andrews and you’d create fruity cocktails to bring in Dianes. At least that’s probably what you would do if you put your customers’ needs above your own biases and desires. This is probably what you would do if you were “objectively passionate” on behalf of your customers.

So what does this have to do with work and market research? I’ve discovered that one of my core jobs is to be “objectively passionate” on behalf of our customers. My job isn’t about doing what Andrew thinks is cool (especially, because I’m not cool). Being “objectively passionate” means always keeping the customer in mind as we do things. It means always thinking about them, what makes them tick, and leveraging that knowledge as we create campaigns, messages, solutions, etc. It means saying no to things that don’t connect back to customers, who they are, and what they need. All of the this sounds easy, but it can be difficult. Sometimes, you fall in love with an idea, because it’s shiny and it sounds great to you. Then, it’s really hard to admit when that awesome idea you are in love with doesn’t work with the customer. Have you ever seen someone fall in love with an idea that didn’t really connect back to the customer and their needs? Have you ever been that person? I have.

Embry work example. Last week I mentioned doing market research on some new data with customers. The data didn’t work very well for certain types of customers, because it didn’t connect with who they are and the tensions (problems) they have. As we shared the fact that the data didn’t work too well for some customers, there were some individuals who were especially disappointed because they loved the data we were testing. Being in love with the idea, they wanted to save it, so they would say things like, “What if you changed the headline or the graph or something else? That could make it work.” Eventually, we said, “The idea doesn’t connect with these people because of who they are. It doesn’t address the tensions they have. Even if we tweaked the headlines and things it wouldn’t make a difference.” Per my analogy, it would be like serving Dianes beer. They aren’t going to like it. Sure it’s possible that we might be able to find a magic beer out there that Diane would like, but the chances of that happening are low. We’d be better off investing that energy creating fruity cocktails she would more than likely enjoy.

The challenge: Are you being “objectively passionate” on behalf of our customers?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Reorganzing a Pantry and Meeting Customer Needs (9-20-17)

Last week we talked about tools and knowing who you are and what you bring to the table. This week is we will dive into doing house projects and addressing customer needs.

A few months ago I came home and my wife had reorganized the pantry. See the picture. Before we had the colorful tubs we placed things on the shelves and grouped them into categories. The buckets took this grouping to the next level. I was standing in the reorganized pantry and she asked, “What do you think? Pretty great, huh?” My face instantly gave away my answer, so she responded with, “You don’t like it.” I respond with, “I’m mainly neutral. I don’t understand why we needed to do this.”

My wife then says, “The buckets make it easier. How many times have you went to bake something and you couldn’t find the ingredients, because everything was disorganized? The tubs solve that issue and keep all of the like things together.” There is a flaw in this argument. I reminder her that I don’t bake. Everything I cook is either grilled or on top of the stove in a skillet. All of my grilling stuff is always easily accessible, so I’m not experiencing those problems. Essentially, she is solving a problem for me that I don’t have or care about. In fact, her doing this actually creates new problems for me. Before I could just see the stuff on the shelves and now I have to spend the effort trying to fit things into tubs and looking inside the tubs to find what I want. All of this results in me being neutral at best toward the new pantry, when my wife was super excited. #awkward

How does this connect with work? Essentially our job is to solve problems. With that said, I see two ways how this anecdote connects to our work. First, how often are we solving our problems vs. solving problems our customers face? If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to fall in love with something cool and never stop to ask, “Does this actually even help a customer?”

The second connection is when we attempt to solve the problems of our customers, are we connecting our solutions back to what they value? The mistake my wife made is that she tried to tell me the tubs in the pantry solved an organization problem. I didn’t have that issue. If my wife wanted me to be thrilled about the tubs in the pantry all she had to do was reframe the solution. She should have said this, “I’m here with the kids every day and they go in the pantry and mess stuff up all the time. I feel I waste a lot of time dealing with that and it adds to the stress I already have of taking care of them and doing everything else that I do to help the family run. I think these tubs will make things easier for me and take some of my stress away.” If she would have framed it that way I would have thought the tubs were an awesome idea. Why? Because I would have said to myself, “The less stress she has, the less stress the family has. She spent minimal money and I didn’t have to put in any effort to fix this. If the tubs make her happy, then she should just go for it!” Connecting this solution to what I value, completely would have changed how I responded to the solution.

The challenge: Are you doing something because it solves a problem that matters to you or because it solve a problem that matters to your customers? Are you connecting the solutions you provide to what customers value?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Leadership, Vision, and Ink Blot Tests (4-2-14)

Take a second and look at the picture above. What do you see?

This is an official image from the Rorschach test also known as the ink blot test. Participants view the ink blots, and then are asked to share what they see and how they came to those conclusions.

If you stop and think about it, being a leader is a lot like taking the ink blot test. Your senses are being overloaded with confusing and murky information. Then, you are supposed to gaze into everything that is going on and formulate a crystal clear vision along with rationale for why you see things the way you do. Your vision and your ability to communicate this vision are critical to the success of the team you are leading.

Back to the ink blots. When you looked at the image, you probably only looked for a few short seconds, picked out the first thing you saw, and then settled on that. This is if you even looked at the image at all. If you would look at the image longer you could see other things. The more you practice, the faster you are able to see the patterns. I started by seeing wolves and a butterfly. As I gazed longer I could see an angel, a glider, two women standing back to back, and other things.

The same goes for leadership vision. How often do we create a vision and direction based on a very short time thinking and analyzing the big messy picture? Worse yet, how often do we just proceed not knowing where we are really going? Are you spending enough time looking at the bigger picture and finding the patterns that will enable us to have success and help customers?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Centered vs. Focused->Customer Centricity vs. Customer Focus (2-9-14)

Has anyone else seen that Nike is going to make Marty McFly shoes! That got me daydreaming about going on a day trip in a Delorean.

Let’s take it all the way back to the late 1400s and early 1500s. If you were like most people at the time you would think that the sun is bright and worth focusing on, but the earth is the center of our galaxy. Then, one day Copernicus came along and theorized that actually the sun is the center of our galaxy, not the other way around. Talk about blowing minds and shattering paradigms…

Now, let’s come back to the present. What is your life centered on? What are things that you focus on in life? For me, my life centers on and revolves around my family. Everything I do I do for them. Now I focus on a few things, being a great partner at work, writing poems, performing slam, etc., but everything I do always connects back to my family. Do you see the difference between centered and focused?

I bring this up, because one day a colleague pointed out to me that we use the phrases “customer centric” and “customer focused” like they were interchangeable, but they aren’t. Being customer focused means that we are only this way when we are really thinking about it. On the other hand, being customer centered means that everything we are doing, big or small, revolves around helping customers. If the customer is the sun in our solar system, then that light and gravity should be dictating everything that we do.

Are you customer centered, patient focused, or neither?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry