In April 2021, The Cove published 52 Weeks of Ideas Part 1: By the Numbers, Leadership and 52 Weeks of Ideas Part 2: Resilience, War and Strategy.

In November 2023, The Cove published 52 Weeks of Ideas – Part 3: On Realising Your Personal, Professional, & Cultural Potential and On Change.

This article presents 52 Weeks of Ideas Part 4: Working with others to achieve more.

The process applied to 52 Weeks of Ideas Parts 1, 2 and 3 is equally applied to 52 Weeks of Ideas Part 4. Each week a new idea is written, as a casual note, in the top right-hand corner of my diary. By Thursday of a week, the idea is moved forward in the diary until the diary is full of random snippets of wisdom. This method means ideas are written, read, reflected upon, and re-written to consolidate thinking, assist memory, and encourage an aspiration of idea achievement.

Eventually, sufficient ideas are gathered to share as 52 Weeks of Ideas.

Recognising the logic, synergy, power, and productivity of working with others to achieve more – this article provides 52 Weeks of Ideas to a wider audience. The ideas are a combination of well-known quotes, critical thinking, and key insights. Hyperlinks to biographies of quote originators are included in the article.

Finally, readers are aware that many popular quotes are apocryphal, inaccurate, or dubiously sourced. Therefore, available in the End Notes, so far as reasonably possible, this article includes accurate sources of quotes.

Working with others to achieve more:

1. George Linnaeus Banks, What I Live For:

   For the cause that lacks assistance, 
   For the wrong that needs resistance, 
   For the future in the distance, 
   And the good that I can do.[1]

2. Trish Berg, creating a ‘resilience framework called the FLEX plan—Failure happens, Lean in, Elect a positive response, and X-ray (be transparent).’[2]

3. The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, at the investiture of Corporal Daniel Keighran with the Victoria Cross at Government House, Canberra, 01 November 2012:

   We see a man of profound physical and moral strength, a man selfless in the face of threat, courageous in the face of terror, generous in the face of suffering and humble in the face of an honour bestowed.

   Though few of us can fathom it, we see you there in your kit, thinking, running, drawing enemy fire, shepherding and leading, protecting others ahead of yourself again and again and again.

   Not until you are exhausted or too terrified to risk another move – but until the job was done.[3]

4. Warren Buffett, ‘forty years ago, my good friend and hero, Tom Murphy gave me one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received. He said, “Warren, you can always tell someone to go to hell tomorrow.” It's such an easy way of putting it. You haven't missed the opportunity. Just forget about it for a day. If you feel the same way tomorrow, tell them then—but don't spout off in a moment of anger.’[4]
5. Nick Cave, ‘the everyday human gesture is always a heartbeat away from the miraculous – ultimately we make things happen through our actions, way beyond our understanding or intention; our seemingly small ordinary human acts have untold consequences; what we do in this world means something.’[5]

6. Daniel Chambliss, Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York:

   Excellence is mundane. Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those actions; only the fact that they are done consistently and correctly, and all together, produce excellence.[6]

7. Winston Churchill, on 31 July 1940, Churchill told Franklin D. Roosevelt, ‘Mr. President, with great respect I must tell you that in the long history of the world this is a thing to do now.’[7]
8. James Clear, ‘we imitate the habits of the close, the many and the powerful.’[8]
9. Francis Crick, ‘it is amateurs who have one big bright beautiful idea that they can never abandon. Professionals know that they must produce theory after theory before they are likely to hit the jackpot. The very process of abandoning one theory for another gives them a degree of critical detachment that is almost essential if they are to succeed.’[9]

10. John Dewey, 1859–1952, developed extensive and often systematic views in ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, aesthetics, and philosophy of religion:

    I am inclined to believe that the heart and final guarantee of democracy is in free gatherings of neighbours on the street corner to discuss back and forth what is read in uncensored news of the day, and in gatherings of friends in the living rooms of houses and apartments to converse freely with one another.[10]

11. Philip K. Dick, ‘reality denied comes back to haunt.’[11]

12. Emily Dickinson: 

    In this short Life
    That only lasts an hour
    How much – how little – is
    Within our power[12]

13. Benjamin Disraeli, ‘never complain and never explain.’[13]
14. Ecclesiastes 1: 4-7, ‘generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.’
15. Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: Every person I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn from them.’[14] 
16. Viktor E. Frankl, ‘everything can be taken from a [person] but one thing: the last of the human freedoms— to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.’[15] 

17. Robert Frost, A Servant To Servants:

    From cooking meals for hungry hired workers  
    And washing dishes after them–from doing  
    Things over and over that just won’t stay done.  
    By good rights I ought not to have so much  
    Put on me, but there seems no other way.  
    Len says the best way out is always through.  
    And I agree to that, or in so far  
    As that I can see no way out but through–[16]

18. Kahlil Gibran, ‘work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.’[17]
19. Vincent van Gogh, ‘I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.’[18]

20. Prime Minister the rt. Hon. John Gorton, MP, review of troops of 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Holsworthy, NSW, 22 March 1968:

    …you have been asked to go, or you have been told to go, because in our judgment it is to the safety of all small nations to do what they can to see that other small nations are not allowed to be overrun by force, or by subversion, or by terrorism, but should have the chance to retain for themselves the opportunity to make, a choice to build the kind of life that the Australian people have an opportunity to choose.[19]

21. Baltasar Gracián, ‘do something well, and that is quickly enough.’[20]
22. Paul Graham, ‘if you're trying to choose between two theories and one gives you an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right.’[21]
23. Ursula K. Le Guin, ‘no darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.’[22]
24. Eric Hoffer, ‘in times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.’[23]
25. Eric Hoffer, ‘the central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people.’[24]
26. Philip Seymour Hoffman, ‘a teacher told me years ago, and he's right… if you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for…then you're given a free chance to practice your craft. And in that moment you should act as well as you can.’[25]
27. Henry Kissinger, ‘we struggled to fashion at least a temporary bridge across the mutual incomprehension.’[26]

28. General Charles Jacoby, US Army (retired):

    …my unlikely career path, with all the fits and starts and should-have-been dead ends, is proof that it’s not always about knowing the right person, or getting the right job, or checking the right block. It’s about blooming where you’re planted. It’s about commitment, service, and duty, and trying every day to do the right thing. And it’s about regaining your balance after stumbling, no matter where you are.[27] 

29. Thomas Jefferson, ‘if I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off.’[28]
30. Steve Jobs, ‘the hardest thing is … you think about focusing, right? You think, “well, focusing is saying yes”. No, focusing is about saying “no”. And you’ve got to say “no, no, no”. And the result of that focus is going to be some really great products where the total is much greater than the sum of the parts.’[29]
31. Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, Ten Rules for Students and Teachers, ‘Rule Six: Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.’[30]
32. General Charles C. Krulak (Ret), 31st Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, ‘we must remember that training is preparation for the expected, but education is preparation for the unexpected. We live today and will live tomorrow in an age of the unexpected.’[31]

33. Phil Levin, Founder/CEO Live Near Friends (livenearfriends.com). Founding team @Culdesac building car-free neighbourhoods from scratch (culdesac.com): 

    …the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighbourhood is really important. And the two big ways you can influence your neighbourhood are one, determining who lives in your neighbourhood by moving people there. And two, improving your neighbourhood.[32]

34. C.S. Lewis, on why small choices matter:

    Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. 

    The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. 

    An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.[33] 

35. Abraham Lincoln, ‘I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.’[34]

36. Riikka Livanainen, 

    Avoiding temptation is itself an act of self-regulation, indeed one requiring forethought, effective anticipation, and self-knowledge. In a sense, avoiding temptation is a meta-regulation strategy that enables the self-regulator to manage self-regulatory resources effectively. By avoiding temptations, one can save oneself the presumably greater expenditure of willpower that would be necessary to resist them, thereby putting oneself less often into a depleted and vulnerable state.[35]

37. Lord Charles Moran, was a young medical officer in World War I and later became the personal physician to Winston Churchill during World War II:

    Character as Aristotle taught is a habit, the daily choice of right instead of wrong; it is a moral quality which grows to maturity in peace and is not suddenly developed on the outbreak of war. For war, in spite of much that we have heard to the contrary, has no power to transform, it merely exaggerates the good and evil that is in us, till it is plain for all to read; it cannot change, it exposes.[36]

38. Napoleon, ‘if I must make war, I prefer it to be against a coalition.’[37]
39. Horatio Nelson, at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1801, ‘the measure may be thought bold, but I am of the opinion that the boldest measures are the safest; and our Country demands a most vigorous assertion of her force, directed with judgment.’[38]

40. Seymour A Papert, ‘we shall see again and again that the consequences of “mathophobia” go far beyond obstructing the learning of mathematics and science. They interact with other endemic "cultural toxins," for example, with popular theories of aptitudes, to contaminate peoples' images of themselves as learners. 

    Difficulty with school math is often the first step of an invasive intellectual process that leads us all to define ourselves as bundles of aptitudes and ineptitudes, as being "mathematical" or "not mathematical," "artistic" or "not artistic," "musical" or "not musical," "profound" or "superficial," "intelligent" or "dumb." 

    Thus, deficiency becomes identity and learning is transformed from the early child's free exploration of the world to a chore beset by insecurities and self-imposed restrictions.’[39]

41. Naval Ravikant, on what money can’t buy: ‘a fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought—they must be earned.’[40] 

42. Future US President, Ronald Reagan, quoted by Richard V. Allen. In January 1977, Allen visited Reagan in Los Angeles. During their four-hour conversation, Reagan said many memorable things, but none more significant than this: 

    ‘My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic,’ he said. ‘It is this: We win and they lose. What do you think of that?’ One had never heard such words from the lips of a major political figure; until then, we had thought only in terms of managing the relationship with the Soviet Union.[41]

43. Andrew Roberts, on concentration from Leadership in War:[42]
    
    1. ‘Much of Napoleon’s extraordinary capacity for work derived from his ability to compartmentalise his mind, to concentrate entirely on whatever problem was before him, to the exclusion of all else.’ (p. 17)
    2. ‘It was astonishing that George C. Marshall never did seem tired, considering his responsibilities, but he had a highly ordered mind, a talent for total concentration on the matter before him, a skill at delegating (once he had filleted the general staff of incompetents, leaving only his trusted lieutenants), and a redoubtable work ethic. This courtly Pennsylvanian gentleman with beautiful manners was incorruptible, single-minded, and astonishingly calm considering the pressures on him.’ (p. 125)
    3. ‘Concentration was one of the keys to Churchill’s character. It was not always obvious, but he never really thought of anything else but the job in hand. He was not a fast worker, especially when dealing with papers, but he was essentially a non-stop worker.’ (p. 204)
44. Simon Sinek, ‘leadership is the responsibility to see those around us rise. It’s the responsibility to take care of those around us. It’s not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in our charge. And the only thing title and authority allow you to do is lead with greater scale.’[43]

45. William Shakespeare, King Lear:[44]

    Have more than thou showest,
    Speak less than thou knowest,
    Lend less than thou owest,
    Ride more than thou goest,
    Learn more than thou trowest [think, expect, believe]

46. William Shakespeare, Macbeth:[45]

    Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow 
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day 
    To the last syllable of recorded time; 
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! 
    Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player 
    That struts and frets their hour upon the stage 
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale 
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
    Signifying nothing.

47. J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.’[46]
48. Lieutenant General John Toolan, United States Marine Corps: ‘inspire others, ignite their hearts, and, illuminate the way.’[47]

49. Colonel Alex Vohr, United States Marine Corps: 

    Strategy is not stagnant nor is strategy limited to planning. Developing plans is merely the first step of strategy, the most important part being the identification of the strategic goal, followed by a reconciliation of that goal with means and ways. 

    Strategy continues beyond planning, however, with an endless series of decisions, adjusting to the changing reality to attain the goal. With each decision comes another round of reconciling means and ways to ensure they remain sufficient and feasible.[48]

50. General George Washington, letter to Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith at Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania, 28 October 1777, ‘I beg you of all things, not to suffer any jealousies between the land and sea service to take place. Consider that your mutual security depends upon acting perfectly in concert.’[49] 

51. Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence in 1921: 

    …habit is necessary; but it is the habit of having careless habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive... one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.[50]

52. Laura Ingalls Wilder, ‘the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.’[51]