Last week was about Pink and the Brain and taking over the world.  This week is about Avatar: The Last Airbender, waterbending, and accessing strength (so you can take over the world). Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite cartoons of all time.  In case you aren’t familiar with the show it is a series about being alone, finding yourself, building friendships, good, evil, and growth.  All of that packed into a kid’s cartoon.  Pretty deep stuff.  Anyway, the show introduces you to a world where “bending” exists.  Bending is the ability manipulate elements such as earth, fire, air, and water.

The picture up top is Aang, the main character, practicing waterbending.  Individuals blessed with the ability to bend, leverage martial art techniques to manipulate the elements.  When it comes to waterbending, one of the most important things to understand is that the more water you have around you, the more powerful you can be.  So, if you’re in a desert, your waterbending is going to be weak.  However, if you were standing in the ocean, your power could almost be limitless.

We’re getting a little weird, so let’s get weirder.  What if I told you that we are all waterbenders?  Obviously, I don’t mean that I believe we can all manipulate water.  What I do believe is that we all have strengths and sources of power that we can tap into.  I also believe that if we surround ourselves with the right people and energy that we put ourselves in a better position to tap into this power.

What I’m about to say will sound dumb, but hang in there with me.  One of the most important things I do at work is include memes and goofy pictures in emails I send to people.  Yep, you read that correctly.  One of the most important things I do at work is send memes to people.  It’s also important for me to wear superhero socks, be in a general state of nerdiness, constantly be making jokes, use sarcasm, and tell stories in unique ways.  It’s also incredibly important for me to be surrounded by people with positive energy and joy. 

If you would look at those things, you couldn’t draw direct lines to my effectiveness or productivity, so you might be wondering why they are so important.  Here is how I think about it.  I “bend” creative energy.  I connect things and people.  That’s my power.  Essentially, all of those things I listed off (socks, nerdiness, good energy, sending memes, making jokes, generally giving me the space to be weird, etc.)  keep me surrounded by “water”.  If I can have all of these things it means I’m in the right culture, surrounded by the right people to give me what I need.  If I can have all of those things, I’m a water bender standing in the middle of the ocean, where my power is near limitless.  In this state, I am as powerful as I can be, and most equipped to make a meaningful difference.  Is this making any sense?  Have you ever felt like this, where you were surrounded by all of the right people and things to help you tap into your strength?  Have you ever been on teams where you weren’t surrounded by the right things, and it was difficult to tap into your strengths (like a water bender in the desert)?

The challenge:  What are the things you need in order to surround yourself with “water”?  What are you doing to give “water” to others?  Give someone some water today.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry