Mario Kart and Choosing Where to Invest Your Effort (9-3-25)

Last week was an entry from, Cameron, and his thoughts on be brave enough to ask questions. This week is an entry from Alice and is about being intentional about where you invest your effort. I hope you enjoy the insights.

My dad is a really good Mario Kart player. He always gets 1st place. Anytime we win, he usually lets us. He’s pretty good at most video games, not just at Mario Kart. I sometimes say he’s one of the best players ever. “Nope, I’m nowhere close,” he usually says.

One day, I asked myself if I’d ever be as good a player as him. I realized I wouldn’t. Which didn’t feel good exactly, realizing that I wasn’t going to be the best. But if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t really putting the work in to be as good as a player. Why? Because I didn’t want to. That’s not being lazy, that’s accepting my limits.

In the grand scheme of things, being the best wasn’t one of my goals. I mean, yes, if I could magically become the best player I would. But to work as hard as my dad to do so, I wasn’t really interested. I’d rather spend my time becoming a better writer and artist. I enjoy writing and drawing, and I enjoy putting the effort in to getting better at those things.

Let’s connect this to work. Think about your career. What are some areas that you’re already happy with? What are some areas where you’d like to grow and improve?

The challenge: Where will you invest your efforts to get better?

Bonus story from Andrew- When I first joined this company, I wanted to climb the ladder and be one of the leaders of a business unit or something like that. I don’t want to do that anymore. If I’m being honest like Alice, I don’t have the right skillset for those roles. Also, I’m not interested in gaining the skillsets and experiences to be great in those roles. Instead, I’d rather continue to invest in areas that are in line with my strengths and maximize the value I can provide like innovation, creative thinking, communication, etc. I likely won’t ever be the leader of a business unit or something like that, and that’s more than okay. I will continue to grow and lead in other ways though.

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

Mario Kart and Choosing the Right Set up for the Task (8-13-25)

Mario Kart 8 Kart Customization

Happy Wednesday,

Recently, my family and I have got back into playing Mario Kart 8 on Switch, which is the inspiration behind this blog series. Our first entry will be about choosing the right set up for the task in front of you.

In case you’re not familiar with Mario Kart, here is how it works. You choose from a collection of Super Mario characters along with a variety of vehicle, tire, and glider options. These choices impact your speed, acceleration, weight, handling, and off-road capabilities. Here was my predicament. Typically, I would choose characters and set ups that were higher on speed and not so much on acceleration. This was great at the lower difficulty levels. Then, once I got to 200cc, I was no longer able to have success with this set up. I slid off courses, struggled, and ultimately lost. As I reflected, I realized that 200cc is more about stopping and going vs staying at a continual top speed. My builds focused on speed may have worked in previous situations, but now I was facing a different challenge. I needed to adapt. Maxing out speed was no longer serving me. Instead, I needed to choose characters, carts, tires, and gliders that would give me high acceleration. Once I switched to this new set up, I started winning!

Making connections. Work is a lot like Mario Kart. We have different options of tools and skillsets we can use to solve problems. Over time, we find set ups that we become comfortable with that we can use over and over again. This serves us well, until things change. Then, our tried and true methods are no longer effective. Has this ever happened to you? You better believe it’s happened to me. From time to time, we need to take a step back to understand the problem we are solving for. From time to time, we need to take a step back and ask whether our current tools and skills are the right ones to solve this problem.

The challenge: Will you be willing to switch your set up when the environment and challenges around you change?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Parenting and Being Okay Joining the Failure Club (7-17-24)

Last week was about flumping. This week is about facing challenges, being human, and being okay with joining the failure club.

Recently, Alice played The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, which originally came out for Super Nintendo. She struggled quite a bit when she fought Ganon, the final boss, and as a result she became overstimulated and incredibly frustrated. I asked her to pause for a second to catch her breath, and then I asked her what was going on. Exasperated, she told me that she kept missing Ganon with her sword and how she kept screwing up. Reading in between the lines, I could see that she felt like a total failure and that she was the only one to make mistakes like this.

After hearing this I started a funny rant that went like this, “Congratulations! You are now a member of the ‘I missed Ganon with my sword’ club. Anyone who has ever played this game and made it this far is a member of that club. In fact, not only am I a member, but I’m the president of the club. If you give me a few minutes, I’ll even go and stamp your membership card.” Alice busted out laughing. My funny rant made her realize that she wasn’t uniquely a failure. It made her realize that EVERYONE has been in the same boat as her. Once she realized this, she wasn’t as frustrated. She defeated Ganon and saved Hyrule shortly after.

What does this have to do with anything? When you fail at something, do you ever feel like you are alone? Do you ever feel like you must suck or be a horrible person? I know I do. If you’ve ever failed, I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to the “I failed, which makes me human” club.Anyone who has ever lived is a member of this club. If you want, I can even stamp your membership card and give you a sticker 😉 All kidding aside, we are all miraculously flawed and beautiful humans. None of us are ever truly alone in our failures and mistakes. Somewhere there is a larger club with thousands, millions, and even billions of people who have been through something similar. You are never alone. Take solace and strength from that.

The challenge: How will you embrace your membership in the “I’m a messy human club”?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lies of P and Expecting Difficulties (2-21-24)

This week we will kick off a series inspired by a video game I recently played call Lies of P. Our first entry is about expecting difficulties.

Lies of P (click for the trailer) is a darker reimagining of Pinocchio. You play as Pinocchio in a world where robots, called puppets, have gained sentience, and turned against humans. On top of all of this, there is some mysterious plague going around and other foul forces at play. Anway, I was playing the game and was dying A LOT. Alice, my daughter, noticed this and said, “You’re failing a lot. Why aren’t you getting upset at the game?” I thanked her for pointing out that I was failing so much 😉, and then I explained, “I’m not upset, because this game is exactly what I thought it would be. From the trailers and what I heard about the game I knew it would be a cool/creepy story, interesting game mechanics, and HARD bosses. I went into it assuming that I would fail a lot and that I would have to get good in order to make it. Now if a Mario game was this hard, I’d be super upset, because Mario games don’t position themselves to be soul crushing games. However, this game from the beginning has made it clear that it is about being tough and challenging players. I also went into the game knowing I’d feel awesome once I made it through the game’s challenges. ”

What does this have to do with anything? I wasn’t frustrated with the game, because I EXPECTED it to be difficult. I EXPECTED to run into challenges that I wouldn’t get past on the first, second, or even tenth try. Since I expected these things, I wasn’t upset when they happened. I understood that the failed attempts were just the price you have to pay before you can do great stuff.

Now think about a time when you were frustrated at work. Were you frustrated because it was difficult OR were you frustrated because you didn’t expect it to be difficult? There’s a big difference. I’ve found when I get the most frustrated at work, it’s usually because I didn’t expect that situation to be difficult. It’s because I’ve assumed that things would be smooth sailing. As I’ve matured over my career, I’ve learned to expect bumps. I’ve learned to expect things to go sideways. I’ve come to appreciate that the job isn’t doing all the things in the job description, but dealing with all of the unexpected stuff that pops up as you try to do the things listed in the job description. I’ve learned to expect things to be challenging, so I’m not thrown off when they are. I’ve learned that going through the bumps and obstacles is the price you pay to do great things, and how amazing it feels to achieve something after struggling through obstacles.

The challenge: How will you readjust your expectations to expect difficulties?

Side note: If you are into Soulslike games and haven’t tried Lies of P yet, I’d definitely recommend it. It is one of my favorite games in that genre that I’ve played and I’m pumped to say that I actually beat it!

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

King Knight and Knowing Your Limits (4-12-23)

Last week was about Super Mario 3D World and working together. This week is about King Knight and knowing your limits.

The other day my son, Cam, came up to me and said, “How early do you need to start work tomorrow?” I asked him why he wanted to know. He told me that he was stuck on a particular level of King Knight, a Shovel Knight spin-off, and needed my help. I smiled and told him I’d give him a hand. The next morning, I helped him get past a particularly tricky part and got him to a checkpoint. From there he kept playing on his own. Eventually, he reached the boss of the stage. The first time he faced the boss, he lost pretty quickly. The 2^nd and 3^rd times, he lasted a bit longer. He kept dying, and I thought he’d ask for help, but he didn’t. He kept trying again and again, slowly making progress, until ultimately, he defeated the boss. He was so proud of himself. (Just look at his “I just dominated” pose 😉)

What does this have to do with life? This is a story about Cam understanding his limits and responding accordingly. He knew there was a part of the level that was way beyond his current skills, and that he would not be able to get past it on its own. He was brave enough to ask for help to get past that part. Later, he came to a challenge that was just a little bit past his current skillset. He could have asked for help then, but he knew it would rob him of his chance to accomplish something within his grasp. Instead of asking for help, he trusted himself and kept trying until he eventually succeeded.

I hope we can all be a bit more like Cam. I hope we can assess situations and realize that sometimes they are more than we can handle. In those moments, I hope we are brave enough to ask for help. Other times, I hope we have enough grit to know that we might fail a few times, but we will find a way to do this on our own.

The challenge: How well do you know your limits? Will you ask for help at the right time?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Super Mario 3D World and Working Together (4-6-23)

Last week was about video games and diagnosing the situation before offering any advice. This week is about Super Mario 3D World and the challenges of working together.

Super Mario 3D World is our latest 4 player family video game. It’s a cute adventure with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach who work together to stop Bowser. It’s also an INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING game at times. How can something so cute and joyous be so frustrating? It’s all because the actions of the characters impact each other, so it’s easy to get blindsided and knocked off track. You might run into another character and accidentally knock them off the edge to their doom. You might go to one side of the screen, making the screen follow you, so no one else can see what they are doing, leading to their death. You might get lost in all of the chaos and get ambushed by a lowly goomba. In order to survive, we have to be able to look at our own character and how everyone else is moving. We also have to spend a lot of time coordinating and communicating. Sometimes, we even have to pause the game to talk about what we need to do, so we are all on the same page. This is the only way to capture the flag at the end of each level to advance.

What if work is just like Super Mario 3D World? Think about it. You have multiple players with various skill levels who all have their own power-ups and abilities. Everyone is racing to a goal. Your actions impact you and others around you and vice versa. Have you ever been blindsided by actions of a “player”? Maybe, you’ve been hit by an unexpected process at the worst time. Maybe, you were trying to zig, while everyone else was zagging. Maybe, you had a deadline ambush you from behind a corner. Maybe, you made a decision that had unintended ramifications down the road. I know all these things have happened to me. Like my family playing Super Mario 3D World, in order to be successful you have to understand your role AND look at the big picture to see how it all fits together with other players. You need to spend time communicating with the other players. Sometimes, you might even have to pause and slow things down to ensure everyone is aligned on the end goal. That’s the only way to win.

The challenge: How are you integrating with all of the players in your game? What are you doing to ensure everyone is working together?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Video Games and Diagnosing the Situation (3-29-23)

This week we are going to kick off a series inspired by video games I’ve played with my kids. This week is about diagnosing the situation before offering any coaching or guidance.

The other day my kids were playing Shovel Knight, and they were struggling with a boss. It would have been easy to take the controller from them and do it myself, but that wouldn’t help them develop skills. Whenever I see them struggling, I go through a series of questions to identify the problem. First, I ask them what they are trying to accomplish. If they are clear here, we move to the second question, and I ask them if they even want to accomplish that thing. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they just want to do other side missions for fun. Assuming they want to accomplish the goal, I go to the third question, and I ask them if they know HOW to accomplish the goal. Assuming they are good here, I go to the final question and ask if they are capable of doing the thing. Turns out they knew what to achieve and wanted to do it, they just didn’t know HOW to do it. Once I helped them there, they had the physical skills to do so, and they ended up defeating the boss and advancing.

You might be wondering where this is going. In the video game example above, I give my kids guidance, based on the specific issue they have. For example, building their skills to do something is very different from helping them gain clarity on the objective. There is a sequence of things we need to work through, so they can perform at their best and I need to meet them where they are. Now reflect on work for a moment. When you give advice/coaching to someone, do you ever jump right in without fully understanding the situation? I’ve done this. What happens when you do this? I’ve found that when I jump right in without diagnosing the situation, I often solve the wrong problem. If I solve the wrong problem, then the advice/coaching is not relevant, and the issue still isn’t solved.

The challenge- Will you take the time to diagnose the situation before providing advice/coaching?

Bonus 1: My flow chart of questions to diagnose the issue.

Bonus 2: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is an AWESOME indie game. It’s kind of like a different take on Megaman. I’d highly recommend it.

Bonus 3: This blog is partially inspired by takeaways from the book: Coaching for Improved Work Performance by Ferdinand Fournies. The book helps you be more methodical in diagnosing issues.

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

Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Understanding the Other Side (3-3-21)

This is the last in our series about Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Last week was about setting the stage to welcome authenticity. This week is about trying to understand the other side before passing judgment. This contains some SPOILERS about the video game.

In most video games (or stories for that matter) there is a clear hero and a clear villain. My daughters know this, so when they played Spider-Man with me they assumed that whoever Spider-Man was trying to stop was obviously evil. In the game, there is an energy company called Roxxon and there is a character named The Tinkerer. Spider-Man fights the Tinkerer early in the game, so my daughters assumed they were evil was evil. As the game unfolds, you learn that Roxxon is doing some shady things and that The Tinkerer is leveraging some outside of the law means to try to stop them. When this is revealed Alice says, “Wait. So is the Tinkerer a good guy or a bad guy?” I replied with, “What do you think?” Alice responded by saying, “I don’t know. They are doing some things I wouldn’t do, but I also understand why they are doing it. This is tricky.”

What does this have to do with anything? Too often in life we assume that all situations are black and white. We see something that we wouldn’t necessarily do, declare it is wrong, and decide the “other” is bad. We don’t always take the time to understand their situation and where they are coming from. The fact is that it’s rarely ever so cut and dry. Trying to truly understand the other person is the first step to seeing the problem and ultimately finding a solution. We see this play out in politics, personal relationships, and even work. How often have you been part of a conversation where someone decided the other person was wrong, before ever trying to understand them? How often have you been that person who passed judgment without understanding?

Here is what makes listening to the other side even harder. It’s human instinct to want to be heard before we try to understand the other person. If we don’t feel like we are being heard, it’s too easy to close our mind to what the other side is saying. I know something I’m continuing to focus on is seeking first to understand before demanding to be understood, even if the other side isn’t originally listening to me.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry