Performance Under Pressure (9-30-26)

We will continue this series on reflections from our internal insights summit. Last week was about using high expectations as an invitation to strive for greatness. This week is about performance under pressure.

Our guest speaker for this segment was Dr. James Hewitt, a former racing cyclist turned PhD performance scientist. His talk was about performing under pressure without burning out. He argued that pressure is always going to be there, and performance is trainable. From there, he discussed how success isn’t just luck, but it’s inevitable for the teams who train to handle this pressure. He then talked through his 3 part framework for preparing to deal with pressure.

Capacity– Building the foundation for performing under pressure
Control– Reframing stress as an opportunity to grow
Coordination– Synchronizing your team to transform pressure into performance

The one that stuck out to me the most is capacity, because this is the one we know the most about. We all know logically that we need to ensure we are taking care of our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. We know we should exercise, take breaks, not be so hard on ourselves, etc. However, there is a difference between knowing and doing, and the difference between knowing and doing is having negative impact across the board.

How does this connect with work? It’s pretty safe to say that there is more pressure and more constant pressure than ever before. In many ways, it feels harder and harder to keep up and deal with everything. What if a large portion of this is because we haven’t built the foundational capacity to even begin to handle this pressure? Without the solid ground, we are already compromised and less able to deal with pressure from the beginning.

When I reflect on capacity this way, it changes the way I think about physical, cognitive, and emotional health. A lack of sleep isn’t just something that makes me a little less tired during the day. Being mentally drained, isn’t just something I can shake off. Being emotionally dysregulated isn’t just something I can easily overcome. These aren’t minor inconveniences. They are barriers to me performing as an employee and more importantly as a human.

The challenge- How will you build up your capacity to perform under pressure?

Bonus thought 1: The other shift I’ve made for these things is rather than spending an exuberant effort in trying to optimize everything, I’m asking what are the minimum effective doses I need. Maybe for my physical health it’s a solid lifting session 3 days per week. For my mental health, maybe it’s a commitment to stop scrolling and only read books after 9:30pm. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Small steps matter.

Bonus thought 2: Here’s a link to his book if you want a quick read filled with some helpful nudges, frameworks, and other things to think about Amazon.com: Regenerative Performance: How to Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Well-Being (Audible Audio Edition): James Hewitt, Dr. James Hewitt, Amplify Publishing: Books

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Mario Kart Cup Challenges, Stretch Goals, and Performance Reviews (8-20-25)

Golden Dash Cup 3 stars 150cc (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) - YouTube

Last week was about Mario Kart, and choosing the right set up for the right task. This week is about Mario Kart cup challenges, stretch goals, and performance reviews.

In Mario Kart you can do grand prix cup challenges, where you race on 4 courses to earn championship cups and stars. On the easier difficulties I have gold cups and three stars on all of the courses. This isn’t true on the hardest difficulty. My stretch goal is to get all gold cups and all of the gold stars, but I’m not there yet. On the hardest difficulty I have some gold cups with stars, some gold cups without stars, some silver or bronze, and some without any cups.

With the information you know, would you say I’m bad at Mario Kart? I’d hope not. I hope that you’d say that I’ve demonstrated mastery at some levels, and now that I’m playing at the highest level I’ve shown I can perform well, even if I haven’t perfectly hit all of my stretch goals. Even if I never get all gold cups and all gold stars at the highest difficulty, I know that I’ve delivered in Mario Kart.

So where exactly is this going? I’m going to have a performance check-in with my supervisor on Friday. Much like Mario Kart, I’ve set some aggressive stretch goals. Much like Mario Kart, I don’t have perfect gold cups with three stars for all of them. During the conversation I’ll share how I have one gold cup with 3 stars, and I’m proud of how I crushed it. I’ll show some of my silver cups as well. Even though they aren’t gold, I’m proud of them too. I’ll also be honest about the challenges where I couldn’t get a cup and the lessons I’ve learned. Maybe the course had unexpected turns. Maybe I just wasn’t ready. Maybe I didn’t have the right set up. Maybe I had to choose to prioritize getting gold in one cup over other cups. At the end of the day, I am trying to play at the highest level possible, so I understand that it will be next to impossible to hit all of my stretch goals. Falling short is inevitable. The only way I’d hit all of my goals is if I was playing on easy mode, and where is the challenge and fun in that?

The challenges: Will you be brave enough to set stretch goals? Will you be comfortable when you don’t reach all of them?

Bonus thought: Since I’ve already did my performance conversation write up in Mario Kart language, am I good? Do I need to do anything else? If someone from HR could check on that for me, I’d appreciate it 😉

Bonus thought 2: Obviously this is a not-so-secret challenge to my boss to see if he can deliver feedback to me through the lens of Mario Kart. I’ll make sure I update you on how well he does.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lifting, Proper Form, and Work (4-26-23)

The last entry was about coaching nudges, deadlifting, and good form. Today, we will build on the idea of proper form as it relates to lifting and work.

As long as you have enough raw power, you can lift something even if you don’t have the right form. This goes for weights, couches, boxes, and more. However, lifting without good form does have a cost to it. You could tire yourself out more easily, get injured, or not be able to lift as much as you could with the right form. The fundamentals of good form increases your strength because it enables your body to capitalize on the synergy of your muscles moving together in the right way. Like I mentioned in the deadlift story, I improved my form and was instantly able to lift more weight without getting tired or irritating my back. In short, good form is the secret to taking your strength to the next level.

Let’s connect this to work. Have you ever seen someone who winged an entire presentation? Have you ever seen someone lead a meeting when they haven’t prepared for it? Have you ever been one of those people? I have. Sometimes this has worked out okay. Sometimes it has been a disaster. Rarely, has it ever been as smooth and efficient as if I would have been more intentional about preparing and doing things the right way. With all that in mind, these examples are great parallels to our metaphor this week. In each instance, the person relied on their brute strength/skill as opposed to leveraging “good form”. Whether it’s presenting, running meetings, scoping out projects, or anything else, there are usually a few key fundamental things/frameworks you can leverage to make it easier. These frameworks are what good form is all about. Sure, you might be able to do things on raw skill alone. However, I guarantee you that combining that skill with the right form will make everything more efficient and easier.

The challenge: Are you seeking to understand what good form looks like before tackling a challenge? How are you leveraging the correct “form” at work?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry