Legos, Change Management, and Fitting Into a New Vision (5-20-26)

Our last entry was about Legos, change management, and making the next step easy to take. This week is about helping Lego pieces and people fit into a new and different vision.

I first heard about Brad Barber about a year ago. He is a Lego builder with a knack of being able to turn any set he gets his hands on into a Millenium Falcon, the famous ship from Star Wars. He does this by creatively rearranging the pieces from that set only. No outside pieces are allowed. Simba becomes the Millenium Falcon. Cinderella’s dress becomes the Millenium Falcon. Dinosaurs become the Millenium Falcon.

Let’s connect things. In the world of work, there are a lot of pieces including employees, processes, and tech. Often, they are configured in a specific way, so people assume they can only be that thing, much like many people would assume a Simba Lion King set could only be Simba. The truth is, we all have the ability to grow, change, and become part of new things if we are guided in the right direction.

This all makes me think of Brad’s work. The beauty of his work is that he can see the pieces for what they are, understand their value, and also how they might exist in a new design and system. He doesn’t break the pieces. He doesn’t twist and pull them into new shapes. He understands their strengths and leverages them differently. He designs something, so he can leverage all their strengths to achieve a new goals. One of the most important parts of change management is connecting with people to help them understand how they are valued AND how they could fit into the new system. This shifts change from something to be afraid of to being something we can be part of.

The challenge: As you lead change, how will you help others see where they fit?

Bonus thought: AI is one of the forces changing our vision for how work gets done. I can’t speak for all areas, but I can speak a bit for market research. It’s true that AI is changing and will continue to change the way do research and gather insights. At the same time, the value and the core of what makes market researchers great will always be there and will always be important. Things like curiosity, the ability to define business questions, understanding decisions in context, and influencing without authority will be constants even as we evolve.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Legos, Change Management, and Knowing What You are Building (4-15-26)

This week we are going to kick off a series focused on Legos and change management. By the end of this, we will build concepts that you can leverage to lead change management efforts. The first entry in this series will be about the importance of knowing what you are building.

Imagine for a minute that I dump a bunch of Legos in front of you and ask you to build something that is faster. I then tell you that it’s important you get this right. If you miss there will be negative consequences. From here, I don’t give you any additional clarity. How would you feel? What kind of a thing would you build?

Now, assume I go back to you and I show you this picture of a rocket house, and say this is what we are trying to create. Would you have naturally built something like this? How much rework would you need to do to create something like this rocket house?

Let’s make some connections. If you were in our Lego situation above, I bet you would have felt frustrated. You also likely would have wasted a lot of effort creating something that looks nothing like the rocket house. At the end of the day, one of the most important steps in change management is being able to articulate where you’re going. If we are unclear on where we are going, we can’t build something to get us there.

Think about your experiences at work. How often has there been an organizational effort that was unable to paint a clear picture of where the company is trying to go? The company might use all the right buzzwords. They might say, “We are transforming. We are trying to move faster. We are trying to deliver better experiences. We are becoming more agile.” The buzzwords are not the same as clear direction. As leaders, we need to be able to articulate a clear vision if we want to lead people to new destination.

The challenge- How will you paint a clear picture of where we are trying to go?

Bonus thought

For the record, I’m not claiming I’m perfect at change management. The reflections from this series are reminders for me as much as they are for anyone else. This stuff is hard and requires intentionality to do it well.
If you recognized the rocket house as Emmet’s dream house from The Lego Movies, then you get 579 bonus points.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Leadership and Outside vs Inside Temperature (7-29-25)

Last week was about patching holes vs installing a new HVAC system. This week is about leadership and the temperature outside vs creating the temperature inside.

The first day that our air conditioning stopped working, the temperature only went up a couple of degrees. It wasn’t too bad. Then, as the temperature shot up outside, the temperature inside kept getting hotter and hotter. Throughout this, we tried to do the same things around the house we would normally do like clean, cook, etc. However, we struggled as the environment around us became hotter and we became more tired and irritable. Once the new AC unit was installed it took time, but eventually the inside of the house became cooler even though the outside was hot as ever. Once things were cooler, it was just a bit easier to do all our normal things around the house.

You might be wondering where this is going. Air conditioning does not stop heat. Instead, it creates a space where it’s just a little bit cooler. That cooler space is more manageable, a little more comfortable. It makes it a little bit easier to do the things you need to do. Similarly, good leaders don’t stop the heat. Good leaders don’t have the ability to wave a magical wand and remove all environmental obstacles, internal hurdles, etc. Good leaders do create a space that is a little more comfortable. It’s a space that makes it a little bit easier to do the things you need to do. Maybe they do this by bringing clarity to the situation. Maybe they do this by bringing in compassion. Maybe they do this by making clear trade-offs. If you’re lucky your leader does all these and more. The bottom line is that the best leaders create the spaces where it’s a bit easier to have success.

The challenge: As a leader, how are you creating a “cool” space for people to flourish?

Bonus observation: I see a fair amount of people getting burnt out from always being in the heat. It’s easy to say it’s their fault, because they didn’t prioritize their work, they didn’t make trade-off decisions, they didn’t handle the stress well, etc. I understand there is some accountability on the individual. I would also argue that this is actually more reflective of a leadership failure within the organization/system. If the leader is clear on the vision and makes clear trade-offs concerning what will and won’t be worked on by their team, then this creates a “cooler” environment where it is easier for employees to stay focused on the right things. It’s easier for employees to focus on the value add work and not burn out. If the leader doesn’t make these calls, then they are letting all the heat in from outside, which contributes a lot to stress, burnout, and more.

Positive real world example. I went to my boss a couple of weeks ago and talked about how I was drowning in work, and how I wanted to make sure he and I were aligned on what matters most. His response was, “What are the 3 most important things you need to execute to provide value to the organization?” I told him, and we aligned on those 3 things. Most importantly, he acknowledged the trade-offs. I’d go all in on those 3 things and we’d be okay if everything else was either slow and/or did not get done. Included in the “don’t worry about it pile” were the emails and asks he had sent me about things not related to those 3 key focus areas. When he aligned on the trade-offs, he stuck by that even when some of his requests were now going to be ignored 😉 That’s what prioritization and making trade-offs looks like. That 5 minute conversation and alignment quickly made the temperature cooler. It made it easier for me to focus and do the things I needed to do.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry