“Individuals create; committees critique.” Years ago a mentor, Rick Scott, helped me get unstuck with these simple words. Rick solidified the lesson with a story: to create the Declaration of Independence, the Committee of Five had Thomas Jefferson write the first draft, which the group then edited and pushed through Congress. The founding fathers knew they would not make the necessary progress if they worked through every detail together.

To apply this to your own life and be more effective, realize that groups are better suited at critiquing than creating, so it’s on you to prototype something, then ask for feedback and build consensus.