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I need a concise way to explain this idea:

Doing the small and easy tasks can be as noble (or more worthwhile) than doing the hard tasks.

Examples:

  • 100 people can be more effective by working on small tasks — like creating community gardens all over the city, reducing carbon in the environment — than working on larger ones like experimenting and failing at curing major diseases.

  • I'm more effective spending an hour doing something I know well instead of doing heart surgery.

Going on this train of thought, I imagine there is a word to describe a phase of creating art, brainstorming, or constructing a house that is more productive than others.

As you can see, I'm struggling with a high-level comparison of productivity and effectiveness in individuals versus those in a collective. And also the process someone goes through to say: “Am I going to forge a new road alone (like a cowboy) or join a collective effort?”

I'm trying to avoid politically-charged words like sharing economy, collective, and communism.

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    Thousands of them. Consider the classical author Ovid, who said Adde parvum parvo, magnus acervus erit, that is, "Add little to little, [and there] will be [a] big heap". Mar 17, 2015 at 2:09
  • Your best bet might be to search for lists of "famous quotations" or "aphorisms". Perhaps under the topics of work, effort, or accomplishment. Bring back a few, and we'll help you decide if they're fitted to your purpose. Mar 17, 2015 at 9:14
  • For want of a nail ...
    – Hot Licks
    Jun 1, 2017 at 15:45

1 Answer 1

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"many hands make light work"

This expression talks about collective effort being more effective than individual effort.

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