Twenty Minute Collaborations with Gregg Potter

I laughed too loud in a Starbucks in Frankfurt… and it turned into a full-day collaboration with three strangers. I was 33, on my way to South Africa, with a 12-hour layover in a city where I didn’t speak the language. The objective was simple: Explore! What I didn’t expect was that the “actors” would show up in the form of three guys from Santiago who invited me to spend the day with them. No pla...

Most collaboration problems don’t start in the meeting. They start in the mirror. We often think collaboration begins when the right people gather around a table. But in my work with Collaborative Intelligence, I’ve learned something simpler:Collaboration starts with you. It starts with awareness of how you are showing up—your energy, assumptions, strengths, and habits. That’s why the first Buildi...

What does French toast have to do with collaboration? More than you might think. Last year I found myself in a tiny hospital kitchen in the Maasai Mara with six medical students trying to cook breakfast for dinner. The burners were too hot. The bacon came in sheets instead of strips. And the French toast was burning faster than we could flip it. Chaos. So I asked two simple questions: “What is eve...

If trust quietly left one of your collaborations today, how long would it take you to notice? Trust isn’t missing from the Building Blocks of Collaborative Intelligence. It’s not listed on purpose.. This week’s Thursday Thoughts tackles a question I hear often: “If trust is so essential to collaboration… why isn’t it a Building Block? ”Because trust isn’t the ingredient. It’s the outcome. We don’t...

Imposter Complex isn’t just personal. In collaborations, it affects the whole team. People:-Hold back ideas.-Avoid leadership.-Stay quiet when their voice is needed most. This week’s Thursday Thoughts explores how imposter complex shows up inside collaborations and how trust can transform it. To do this justice, I reference the brilliant and wonderful Tanya Geisler, CPCC👉 At the Edge of Not Knowi...

"How am I supposed to act “professional” when everything else is clearly changing?" Many people feel the tension between business as usual and the deeper transformations happening around us. It can feel like we’re expected to smile, post, perform, and say “I’m good”… even when something inside us knows that’s not the full truth. This week’s Thursday Thoughts explores that dissonance thro...

Most organizations don’t choose their meetings. They default to them. Weekly huddles. Standing project meetings. Meetings to prepare for other meetings. I call this the Meeting Default Problem.... when meetings quietly replace trust, clarity, and momentum. This week’s Thursday Thoughts starts with a question from a project manager who said: “I’m in meetings all Monday. Honestly, they feel like mee...

“Collaboration” shows up in a lot of company values. But for many people, it stays there... on the wall, not in the work. This week’s Thursday Thoughts starts with a simple question: Why do some organizations say they value collaboration… but don’t actually practice it? It turns out size isn’t the real issue. Design, intention, and practice are.👉 When Collaboration Is Only a Wordhttps://lnkd.in/g...

How did you learn about the birds and the bees? We all learned about sex in different yet similar ways. In October of 2023, we held a live Salon in Madison, WI called, 'Everything You've wanted to ask a Sex Therapist' with Chantal Fowler. This recording is rough and because it got stuck in between software changes, doesn't have the best editing. We ask you to have grace with it and just take it fo...

Gregg welcomes Caroline Ouwerkerk to the show this week. As a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths-based coach, Caroline Ouwerkerk (she/her) brings over fifteen years of experience to support mission-driven clients on five continents at a range of leadership and career crossroads.   Caroline runs the Impact Leaders Incubator, a leadership development program and community for women in social impact,...

Gregg is a connector and sometimes people call him a friend collector. Well this serves us all well when it comes to collaboration. This week Gregg welcomed Celeste D. Brito to Twenty Minute Collaborations. Celeste D Brito is a passionate and enthusiastic Facilitator, Mentor and Consultant -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebloomproject/ She is a Board member of the International Association of Fac...

Welcome to the final guest of the night. At the March, 2024 Salon, the final guest of the evening was Rebecca Ryan. It was quite a magical experience that talked so many things. Rebecca Ryan is an economist and top 50 professional futurist. Trained as a futurist and an economist, Rebecca helps clients see what’s coming – as a keynote speaker, a Futures Lab facilitator, an author of books, blogs an...

In March we had a Twenty Minute Collaborations Salon hosted by Madison Gas & Electric (MG&E). The second guest was Mario Garcia Sierra. Mario has created deep roots and what he calls, " A community grid" in Madison. He is the Director of Residential and Community Services at MG&E. He sits on the Board of Directors for Centro Hispano in Madison and is involved in the community countless...

We're back! Gregg and our team has been learning new software but now we're here. This first episode post hiatus is with the phenomenal Lynn Borton. Lynn producer & host of Choose to Be Curious , a show all about curiosity, The show is nationally-syndicated and recently won the Alliance for Community Media’s Hometown Media Award for “Best Audio Programming by an Independent Producer”....

What happens when we don't like being in a collaboration? There is a lot going on? Is it the work? Is it the people? Is it how we got nominated for the work? With all things considered that we chose to be in the collaboration, this Collab Quickie goes into how we can support ourselves when we are in these types of collaborations.

This week Gregg invited Mandar Apte to sit with him on the podcast. This is a big adventure of a conversation and many topics are covered. Mandar currently manages  Cities4Peace  a strategic consultancy that promotes peace in cities and communities across the world worldwide. His pioneering efforts in collaboration  with Los Angeles PD  to reduce gang violence and with  UN Peacekeeping Mission in...

Gregg launches this series about visionaries in collaboration with the phenomenal, Don MacPherson. Don is the CEO and host of 12 Geniuses - a podcast for curious and voracious learners. Don interviews exceptional people about trends and technologies changing the way we live and work. A five-time entrepreneur, Don has spent 25 years researching the employee and customer experiences, the attributes...

Gregg took a moment to share some thoughts about how being 'nice' and 'kind' show up in collaborations. This is also our introduction into the next series looking at how visions come to life in our collaborations. If you're interested in looking at current offerings from the International Institute on Collaboration, check out the website: https://internationalinstituteoncollabo...

It's technically Gregg's 50th episode! Wow! Thank you for coming on this journey with us. For this episode, we have the incredible Will Green. When you think of a visionary, you should think of Will Green. He is the perfect way to end this series highlighting leadership in Madison, WI. He is a father, husband, community leader, and mentor. Will has his degree in psychology from University...

Welcome to 2024! We're launching the new season of with a series highlighting some local leaders in Madison, WI. This series is brought to you by Common Wealth Development in Madison, WI. Check out everything Common Wealth is doing at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cwd.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠ . -------------------------- This week we have another fantastic Madison leader, Saran Ouk. Saran is the Office of Business Resources Ma...

Welcome to 2024! We're launching the new season of with a series highlighting some local leaders in Madison, WI. This series is brought to you by Common Wealth Development in Madison, WI. Check out everything Common Wealth is doing at ⁠⁠⁠https://cwd.org/⁠⁠⁠ . -------------------------- We're in the fourth week of highlighting Madison leadership. This week Gregg is a little close to Gregg&#...

Welcome to 2024! We're launching the new season of with a series highlighting some local leaders in Madison, WI. This series is brought to you by Common Wealth Development in Madison, WI. Check out everything Common Wealth is doing at ⁠⁠https://cwd.org/⁠⁠ . -------------------------- This week Gregg was joined with the fantastic and brilliant Amber Swenor. Amber imagines a world where people e...

Welcome to 2024! We're launching the new season of with a series highlighting some local leaders in Madison, WI. This series is brought to you by Common Wealth Development in Madison, WI. Check out everything Common Wealth is doing at ⁠https://cwd.org/⁠ . -------------------------- We're so excited to continue this series celebrating leadership in Madison, WI. Gregg had the pleasure to cha...

Welcome to 2024! We're launching the new season of with a series highlighting some local leaders in Madison, WI. This series is brought to you by Common Wealth Development in Madison, WI. Check out everything Common Wealth is doing at https://cwd.org/ . - - - - - - - - - - For the first episode of this series, Gregg invited the incredible change maker, Shiva Bidar-Sielaff to the show. Shiva Bi...

It's a new year. A conversation Gregg has been having a lot is getting secure with our values. This quickie digs into that a bit more. Also, the International Institute on Collaboration is open and is having a membership drive. Check it out! https://internationalinstituteoncollaboration.com/ #collaboration #values #collaborationskills #quickie