INDIANAPOLIS — Often, the challenge when attending conferences can be how to boil down the inspirational to practical application.

David Gouthro, president of The Consulting Edge, helped attendees make sense of what they learned at the CU Watercooler Symposium and made them actively share actionable ideas with one another during his Building Courage to Collaborate session.

According to Gouthro, curiosity is the key to effective collaboration.

“Knowing is the enemy of learning. There is a hardening of the mind and comfort gets in the way of curiosity,” said Gouthro. “You need the curiosity to see if there is an opportunity to collaborate and you learn to collaborate faster if you're willing to blow it.”

He then played a series of tunes culminating in “Dream the Impossible Dream” on a nose flute to drive the metaphor home. (Listen to the audio below.)

Attendees were then asked to write one idea they got during the first day of the symposium that they planned to act on and choose a colored magnet from their table. They then had to get up and find others who had the same color and share their ideas. The concept was that each conversation would help not only shape each idea but help identify and encourage collaboration opportunities in the room.