1. 🃏 Unofficial Start

   Music on. A deck of cards spread face-down across a center table. Name tags at the door.

   Each card carried one question: What story does this bring up about collaboration at work?

   Behind the curtain Time is the only resource we don’t get back. Most workshops waste the first ten minutes waiting for stragglers. The cards turn that waiting into the first piece of work we did together — a deliberate use of the time we had.

   Want a deck?

   Order the cards I used

   Send me a note and I’ll ship you a copy.

   Get in touch →

2. 🤝 Connection Before Content

   Trios. Share your cards. Find a common denominator that has to do with collaboration.

   You found the thread without anyone telling you what it was. That’s a Human Skill in action.

3. ⚡ Pass It As Fast As You Can!

   Our first team challenge. Thirty minutes of passing, iterating, and trying again.

   Then the 4F Debrief: Facts · Feelings · Findings · Future. Five minutes alone, then twenty-five together — the room named what was actually happening.

   ⚓ Three anchors we named afterward

   1. Psych Safety = High Performance. The team that can say "I don’t know" out loud is the team that gets faster.
   2. Listen to Understand. Not to wait for your turn. Not to fix. Just to understand what’s actually being said.
   3. Agreement vs. Alignment. Getting everyone to agree is nearly impossible. Aligning on a shared goal gives your team the buy-in to execute, test, and figure out what’s next together. Without it, you may experience: infighting, sabotage, and quiet exit.

4. 🧠 The Neuroscience Lab at Penn State

   We feel, and then we think. Always in that order. The proof? Your biological response to a 🍋 lemon that wasn’t there.

5. ☕ Break

   Coffee. Bathrooms. Music up.

6. 🎁 Raffle

   Seven books found new homes. Each one is something I’ve gone back to more than once.

   Full list with author links: Resources and Links below.

7. 🏗️ Build It As High As You Can

   Our second team challenge. Build the highest free-standing tower you can — first round open, second round under constraint.

   Then the 4F Debrief through the constraint lens. Five minutes alone, twenty-five together.

   ⚓ Three anchors we named afterward

   1. Distance = Trust. Distance creates habitual gaps in team trust. Bring your people together.
   2. Common Ground Alignment. Find what you both already see the same way. Build out from there.
   3. Share Resources. The team with shared resources outperforms the team with hoarded ones, even when the hoarders have more.

   📖 Stories that came up in the debrief

   Story

   👟 The Air Jordan launch — constraints vs. rules

   Nike’s 1985 shoe violated the NBA’s uniform rule. They paid the fines. Constraints are immutable; rules were written by someone — and can be unwritten.

   Story

   🔍 Detective, not the Judge

   The Judge already decided the verdict and is looking for evidence. The Detective is looking for what’s actually true. Pick on purpose.

8. 🎯 Action Storm + Accountabilibuddy

   Three minutes alone: What’s something that impacted the way you approach collaboration? What small, specific thing will you do on Monday?

   Then trio cross-pollinate — share your action and the problem it’s supposed to solve. Help each other generate three new, smaller actions.

   Then Accountabilibuddy: pair up outside your trio. "When I leave I will ___. You can help me by ___." Phone numbers exchanged. Friday check-in set.

9. ✨ Closing

   "You were spectacular today because ___."

   That’s the exit mechanic. Instead of clapping, find someone you hadn’t talked to yet and finish the sentence.

   Behind the curtain Applause points the attention back at the front of the room. This sends you out specific, named, and seen by someone else — which is where the focus belongs at the end of a day like this.

Resources and Links 📚 The seven books from the Raffle