Pizza, Good Ingredients, Process, and Culture (11-6-19)

This is the final entry in the series about pizza. I believe the insights have been pretty deep dish, and I hope you’ve found the food for thought particularly tasty 😉 (#dadjokesfordays). Last week was about diversity, inclusion, and cheese on pizza. This week is about good ingredients, process, and building a positive culture.

Imagine there are three pizza places. Pizza place A has the best and freshest ingredients. Pizza place B has good ingredients. Pizza place C has okay ingredients. Which place serves the best pizza? The first temptation would be to say Pizza place A, because it has the best ingredients. However, it’s hard to know if they have the best pizza. What if their method for cooking pizzas result in pizzas that are undercooked or burnt? What if their delivery process ends up ruining pizzas (See Domino’s picture)? Even if they have the best ingredients, if they don’t have the right methods and processes in place the pizza may not be great.

What do pizza ingredients and processes have to do with culture? Having great ingredients is the FIRST step in being able to create great pizza. You have to also have the right cooking techniques, methods, and processes. It’s the combination of the best ingredients and the right processes that can create pizza magic. Often when we talk about building positive inclusive cultures we talk about how important it is to have the right people. I’ve heard people say, “You ONLY need to have the right people together.” Or “If people could only be good people that would solve inclusion problems.” I agree that having the right people who care about inclusion and building powerful cultures is an important step, BUT it’s NOT the only step. Great people on their own can only go so far, just like the best pizza ingredients can only go so far. On top of having the right people, you also have to have the discipline and the right processes. What do I mean by that? How often do we take time to be intentional about what we are building our culture to be? How often do we pause to reflect on the pulse of the team and how to improve? How do we think through roles and responsibilities and how that impacts the culture we are creating? How often do we look at the processes we interact with to determine which ones help accelerate a positive culture vs. get in the way of building a good culture?

Confession. On my best days, I’d like to think I’m a pretty good person with enough love in my heart to change and shape the culture around me with ONLY my heart and good intentions. However, even when I’m at my best I make mistakes. Even at my best I get caught up in the swirl, and forget to keep a pulse on the people I care about. Even at my best, I succumb to my unconscious bias from time to time. Even at my best, I’m still human and that means I’ll fall short. For me, combining the best of my heart and intentions, goes so much further if I also have the discipline and processes in place to make a difference. What about you?

The challenge: How can you combine the right ingredients (people) AND the right processes to build the best pizza (culture)?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Don’t Take Pizza Crust for Granted (10-23-19)

Last week was about pizza, nostalgia, and being objective. This week is about pizza and not taking crust for granted.

When I go to order a pizza the first thing I think about is the toppings I’m going to get on it. Is it going to be meat lovers? Is it going to be bbq chicken? Is it going to be a supreme? So many options! I rarely ever think about the crust. Crust is just crust right? It’s not worth thinking a second thought about, right? I used to believe that, then two separate things happened. One time I got a pizza and all the toppings were right, but the crust was burnt. It ruined the entire pizza. In a different situation, my family ate at this pizza place and the crust was wheat with a touch of honey. It was incredible and completely enhanced the flavor of everything else on the pizza. Between the two of these events I realized that I shouldn’t take crust for granted.

What does pizza crust have to do with anything? First, there is a connection to the work we do. I’m sure we all want to work on the toppings, the things that are supposed to matter the most and will be noticed and appreciated. Sometimes we work on these things, but sometimes we work on the crust, the things that aren’t as flashy and impressive, the things that may be taken for granted. When we work on “the crust”, it’s easy to think that what we are doing doesn’t matter, and that behind the scenes foundational like work won’t be seen or impactful. This is when we need to remember that these things do matter, that crust matters. It’s about the full pizza experience, and you can’t have good pizza if the crust is bad.

The other connection is similar, and is about how you view yourself and your contributions. If we’re being real I get jealous of other people sometimes. I look at them and say, “Whoa, they can do X, Y, and Z incredibly well! That’s awesome and those skills are so important. Maybe I’d be better if I could do X, Y, and Z just like them, because I only do A, B, C.” Using our pizza analogy, I get jealous of people because I view them as being the awesome toppings and I’m JUST crust. If I’m just providing crust, then I’m not providing much. I’m not providing the right things. I’m not providing value. (#selfconciousdownwardspiral) Have you ever been there? Here are the things I struggle to remember. First, you never quite know who looks at what you do and how much they value what you do. Over the years I’m always surprised when people value things in me that I don’t think are worth anything. Second, even if you are “just” crust, you have the chance to be great crust, the type of crust that makes everything else better. It’s all a matter of perspective.

The challenge: Don’t take crust or yourself for granted. Realize that you are worth more than you know.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Pizza, Nostalgia, and Objectivity (10-16-19)

Last week was about pizza and decision criteria. When people told me about their favorite pizza, they often referenced nostalgia, so this week is about pizza, nostalgia, and objectivity.

My wife is from the Evansville, IN area. In Evansville, there is a popular pizza place called Turoni’s (pizza pic to the right). I remember going down to hang out with her family and they decided that they wanted to get a Turoni’s pizza. I had never had it before. The entire family ranted and raved about how awesome the pizza from there was. They talked about how Turoni’s had been there ever since they were kids and what a treat it was to go there when they were growing up. When I tried the pizza, it was good, but it wasn’t great. I don’t know if it would make my top 10. While I felt that way, her family ate the pizza and talked about how amazing it was.

So what was happening? I believe that nostalgia was playing a huge role in how they were experiencing the pizza. They had grown up with this place. This pizza wasn’t just pizza. It was also good memories and celebrations. They were attached to the pizza place, and I feel that got in the way of them being objective enough to realize the pizza is okay, but not amazing like they said. If you think about it, you probably are nostalgic about a certain kind of pizza or some other restaurant. I’m nostalgic about Pizza King (pizza pic at the bottom). I’m convinced their Washburn pizza is the best ever! It has ham, pepperoni, sausage, extra cheese, BBQ sauce, and a crisp thin crust. At the same time, people who don’t have as much nostalgia about Pizza King often feel it’s good, but not the best ever. My nostalgia is biasing me in one direction.

What does pizza and nostalgia have to do with anything? In the above situations we both inflate how good the pizza is because of our nostalgia and our comfort with the pizza. However, if we were more objective, we’d realize the pizza we are in love with is good, but not the most amazing thing ever. Have you ever done something similar?

We are all human and creatures of comfort and habit. In work and in life, it’s too easy to do something because we are more accustomed to it vs. because it objectively being the best thing to do. Think about the processes we follow. How often do we blindly follow a process because we are used to it vs. objectively analyzing the process to see if it serves its purpose? Think about the people we hire onto teams. How often do we value a certain style and personality type vs. objectively realizing that different types of people can all solve the problem? Think about evaluating someone doing a job that you have done in the past. How often do we prefer people to do things our way, just because we are used to that? We do all of these things, because we have emotional attachment to something. In a way, we are nostalgic, and that blinds us from being truly objective. The first step is acknowledging that nostalgia can blind us. The second step is working to become more objective.

The challenge: How can we be more objective vs. just going along with where we are comfortable?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Best Pizza and Decision Criteria (10-9-19)

This week we are going to start a series about the lessons you can learn from pizza. We’ll start by looking at the “best “pizza and decision criteria.

Let’s start with a simple, yet important question 😉 What is the best pizza? Why is it the best pizza? What criteria did you use? Did you base it on price, fresh vs. frozen, New York vs. Chicago style, the sauce, the availability of toppings, how good of a leftover it makes, the cheese, the best deals, dine in vs. carry-out, or some other criteria? I’d assume that if I asked you the question using different criteria you’d give me different answers about which pizza is the best. For example, my favorite deep dish pizza, Roselli’s, is different from my favorite frozen cheese pizza, Home Run Inn.

Now assume that your team needs to decide what the “best” pizza is and you’ll have to defend that decision to others. How do you make that decision? Would you leave it wide open or would you try to establish some kind of decision criteria? I’d imagine that you’d have to discuss and align on the key variables that you’re going to consider. Having this decision criteria makes the decision more objective, focused, and easier to make.

What does a series of questions about the “best” pizza have to do with anything? This story isn’t about pizza, it’s about how to try make an objective decision. When I first asked you, “What is the best pizza?” you used your own criteria to determine what best is. This is fine, UNTIL you have to align as a team. Then, the team needs more clarity around the decision criteria to help focus the conversation and drive a decision.

Maybe your teams don’t make decisions about pizza on a regular basis (maybe they should). However, they probably make other decisions like: What is the best HCP campaign? What should the Payer value message be? Which concept is best for Consumers? How successful is ____ tactic? These decisions don’t have clear cut obvious answers. How often have you been involved in decisions about these types of things that swirled and swirled and swirled, because the group didn’t have clear decision criteria? I know I’ve been there. When there aren’t clear decision criteria then any opinion can be “good”, so there’s no way to judge one thought vs. another. In these cases it is often the person with the most seniority, the person who talks the most/loudest, or the person who won’t stop talking or listen to other viewpoints that eventually “wins”. That’s not a good way to make a decision. However, once you finally have clear decision criteria, then you have something you can measure against. This removes a lot of the subjectivity, so the group can have a more objective conversation. In my experience, I’ve found that the more clarity you have around decision criteria, the easier it is to make a decision.

The challenge: Are you establishing AND communicating the decision criteria you’ll use to make a decision?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Diversity, Inclusion, and Cheese on Pizza (10-30-19)

Last week we reflected on why we shouldn’t take the crust for granted. This week we will think about diversity, inclusion, and cheese on a pizza.

A few months ago I called a pizza place and ordered a pizza that was ½ meat lovers and ½ just cheese. What I got from the pizza place was a pizza that was 100% meat lovers, and no cheese on the pizza. That’s right, someone made a pizza without cheese on it. #unforgiveable Anyway, you wouldn’t think that the absence of cheese would be such a big deal, but it was. The absence of cheese messed up the flavor balance of the entire thing. The absence of cheese meant that there was not a binding agent to hold everything together in place, so as I tried to eat the pizza the toppings would slide around. As I took bites it was more like biting into individual toppings vs. having the combined flavor of a pizza in one bite. Not a good experience.

What does a cheeseless pizza have to do with diversity and inclusion? Pizza is a great analogy for diversity and inclusion. Each topic brings its own unique strengths and flavor profile, and together they create something more than the sum of the individual parts. At least that’s what happens when there is cheese. When there isn’t cheese, it’s just a bunch of individual parts moving around.

In this metaphor, I’d argue that cheese on a pizza is the trust that we build between each other. Much like cheese, trust starts as small individual shreds of mozzarella and it grows and spreads with the application of warmth and time. Much like cheese on a pizza, trust is the bond that holds everything together and in place. It’s the thing that connects all of the individual toppings (people), and helps them unleash their inner awesomeness. Think about a time when you were on a team that was built on trust. What did that feel like? More importantly, what did it enable you to be and to do? I always do my best work, when I’m rooted in a relationship of trust. Now, think of a time you were in a group where the trust wasn’t there. How did that feel? Did you feel like an individual component, disconnected from people and purpose? That’s the way I’ve felt in those situations. If cheese is the ultimate connector on pizza and trust is the connector that brings out the best in us, then it’s important we are putting in the work to build trust and help trust grow.

The challenge: What are you doing to build trust? How are you creating the warm environment to ensure trust grows and spreads?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Reasons to Believe and Pizza (1-10-18)

Last week we kicked off a series about marketing and being intentional to improve our relationships. We started by identifying what desired beliefs we want to drive with each other. This week I want us to focus more on the reasons to believe and executing those.

After a brand chooses the desired belief they want a person to have they need to identify the reasons to believethat can drive that person to the desired belief. These reasons to believe are the supporting points (data, images, written messaging) AND customer experiences that you could share to drive people to have that belief.

Let’s pretend you own a pizza place and you want people to believe that your pizza is the most delicious pizza. What would cause them to believe this? The reasons to believe could include things like having a wide variety of pizza toppings, fresh ingredients, expert chefs, and handmade dough. You would take these reasons to believe and turn them into a campaign that told some story like, “Our pizza has the freshest ingredients sourced from local farms. We have the largest array of veggies, meats, artisan cheeses, and toppings to craft a pizza to your tastes. All of our pizzas are made each morning by our chefs who studied in Italian kitchens and have brought with them their grandma’s pizza dough recipe.” If you communicated this story well enough and the experience matched this, then people would probably believe your pizza was delicious.

You might be wondering what this has to do with work. Last week was about being intentional about WHAT you want people to believe, and reasons to believe are the things that can help you figure out HOW you can get someone to believe something. Essentially, what would you have to do to drive the desired feelings with your co-workers?

Embry example. As I mentioned last week, my desired feeling is that I want them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I care about them and the work we do together.Over time, I’ve found that in order for people to believe I care for them I need to show them I care for them (I know your mind is now mind blown, right?). I show people I care for them by actively listening, seeking to understand people and their stories, recognizing them for their contributions, and giving people usable and constructive feedback. The way in which I go about doing those things can include face to face conversations, hand written notes, sending memes, sharing articles I think they’d be interested in, etc. Throughout my career I’ve found that if I am INTENTIONAL and CONSISTENTLY do those things, then most people will eventually come to realize that I care about them and the work we do together.

The challenge: What are things you need to do to drive your desired belief with people? Are you CONSISTENTLY doing the things that will drive a person to feel how you would like them to feel?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Cost of Being Different Part 1 Diversity, Inclusion, and the Cost of Great Pizza (7-6-16)

This week we will kick off a new series I’m calling “The Cost of Being Different.” We’ll start by thinking about diversity, inclusion, and the cost of great pizza.

How many different kinds of pizza have you had in your life? Include anything from middle school pizza to frozen to chains to local restaurants. Now the important question. How many of those experiences/pizzas have been amazing? I’ve probably had hundreds of pizzas, but if I had to pick ones that get me really excited I can only think of a handful of places. This is surprising to me, because at face value making pizza looks pretty simple. You make some dough, add sauce, add cheese, put on toppings, and bake it until it’s done. Anybody can make pizza. If it’s so simple, why isn’t all pizza amazing?

Maybe creating something as simple as pizza isn’t all that easy. Maybe it’s a lot more complicated. Maybe it takes more concentration, focus, and skill then I’d care to admit. First, there’s the dough. It’s about making a crust that isn’t too floury or too doughy and can support the weight of the pizza. Then, there’s the sauce, which must be the perfect blend of herbs and spices to simultaneously pull all of the flavors together and accentuate them. There are the toppings themselves, where it’s important to think about how each topping will impact the flavors of the others. I want to eat something that feels pulled together and not just a heaping pound of stuff. Finally, there’s the cheese that has to be melted enough to hold everything together, but not too much where it’s runny or too hard where it ruins the pizza. Great pizza requires the best ingredients cooked in the best way. Great pizza isn’t cheap. The best pizza costs more in terms of the extra time, effort, and energy to ensure they create something extraordinary.

How does this connect with diversity, inclusion, and work? We sometimes talk about diversity and inclusion like it is as simple as pizza. All we have to do is put a bunch of different people in a room and then magically it will all come together. It doesn’t work like that. It’s not that easy. It’s not that cheap. It costs more than that. It costs and requires attention and people being intentional. It requires a leader who makes inclusion part of the foundation of the team (dough). It needs a culture that brings out the best in each other (sauce). It requires people who can be great on their own who are also willing to be part of something larger (toppings). It needs a purpose that holds everything together just right (cheese).

Think about the teams/groups you’ve been part of. How many of them have been magical? How many are just okay? How many have been subpar? None of this happens by accident. This all happens because of the things we do or do not do. Creating an inclusive culture isn’t cheap. Creating an inclusive culture costs more. It costs more in terms of time, effort, and energy. An inclusive culture pays off with better teams.

The challenge: What are you doing to make your team (your pizza) extraordinary?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry