Do people work best alone?

Usually, but not always.

Where creative thinking is required, sometimes, two heads are better than one.

Minoo Jha

 · 4y

How often do you find yourself thinking ‘two is better than one’?

Hi, You asked, How often do you find yourself thinking ‘two is better than one’? Every now and then. And wistfully. Because some of my best work - and most wonderful output - has come about, because another person was involved. In successful partnerships, as in successful marriages, one plus one does not equal two, but an exponential amount more. Having the right co-pilot, spouse, or mentor can make all the difference to what you achieve. My Toastmasters experience is a good example. In 2003, I joined Toastmasters. I was lucky enough to be mentored by someone, who was not just very experienced at public speaking, but incredible at mentoring as well. Thanks to her feedback and input, I completed my CTM in a year. Moreover, all of my speeches were big hits. Other aspiring speakers would come up to me after my speeches. They would want to know the secret behind my speaking ability. My mentor had a big part to play in it. I decided her contribution to my success shouldn’t go unrecognized. So after I completed my CTM, I wrote a speech dedicated to her, and what she had done for me. Want to guess what it was called? When One Plus One Does Not Equal Two.

If you involve another person in your work, you can:

Come up with ideas together.

Have them look at your ideas, and tell you what they think about your ideas, and how you can improve upon those ideas.

Use their help as an editor, or sounding board.

Have them look at how you plan to present your ideas to someone else, and get their thoughts on how you can improve your presentation.

Have them do some of the work, and learn what they can do, so you can use their help whenever you need it. 

Take on more projects, or work.

Take on projects with collaborating in mind. 

When author Marie Benedict decided to write a historical novel about J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, she decided she needed to find an author who could co-write the book with her, and do full justice to the "librarian", the subject of her novel.

Marie's publishing agent referred a lady whose name was Victoria Christopher Murray.

Victoria Christopher Murray, was an author of 20 books, who had never collaborated with another author to write a book.

But after reading the proposal for 'The Personal Librarian", she decided to do it.

The jointly written book hit the shelves a year later.

Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

Co-authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray bring to life the elusive story of one of the most influential librarians in history.

https://www.bookpage.com/interviews/26383-marie-benedict-victoria-christopher-murray-fiction/

It is up to each of us to realize, when working with someone else will be good for us.

Sometimes, we can be too independent for our own good.

Our unwillingness to involve other people, can cost us quality, efficiency, speed, growth, and even artistry.

Above all, it can cost us opportunities to produce a larger, and more substantial quantity of work, and cost us the satisfaction and credibility that we might gain.

Here is one author, who understood that well, and has collaborated with many people.

 'Pattersoning' .  Know when it's right for you.

James Patterson - Wikipedia

American author (born 1947) James Patterson Born James Brendan Patterson ( 1947-03-22 ) March 22, 1947 (age 77) Newburgh, New York , U.S. Alma mater Manhattan College Vanderbilt University Genre Mystery , young adult fiction , thriller , comedy , realistic fiction , romance , science fiction , fantasy Notable works Alex Cross series Women's Murder Club series Maximum Ride series Michael Bennett series Middle School series I Funny series Spouse Susan Patterson ​ ( m. 1997) ​ Children 1 Website www .jamespatterson .com James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the Alex Cross , Michael Bennett , Women's Murder Club , Maximum Ride , Daniel X , NYPD Red , Witch & Wizard , Private and Middle School series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction, and romance novels. Patterson's books have sold more than 425 million copies, [1] and he was the first person to sell one million e-books . [2] [3] In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes 's list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. [4] His total income over a decade is estimated at $700 million. [5] In November 2015, Patterson received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation . [6] He has donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarship to various universities, teachers' colleges, independent bookstores, school libraries, and college students to promote literacy. [7] Early life [ edit ] James Patterson was born on March 22, 1947, in Newburgh, New York , the son of Isabelle ( née Morris ), a homemaker and teacher, and Charles Patterson, an insurance broker. [8] [9] The family was working-class and of Irish descent. [10] Patterson graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College and with an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University . [11] Patterson was a PhD candidate at Vanderbilt [12] when he took a job as an advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson . [11] After Patterson retired from advertising in 1996, [13] he devoted his time to writing. [14] Patterson later said that his greatest influence was probably Evan S. Connell 's 1959 debut novel Mrs. Bridge . [12] In 1976, Patterson published his first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number. The novels featuring his character Alex Cross , a forensic psychologist formerly of the Washington DC. Metropolitan Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation who now works as a private psychologist and government consultant, are his most popular and the top-selling U.S. detective series of the 2010s. Patterson has written more than 200 novels since 1976. [15] Patterson has had more than 114 New York Times bestselling novels, [16] and holds The New York Times record for most #1 New York Times bestsellers by a single author – 67 – which is also a Guinness World Record . His novels account for one in 17, roughly 6%, of all hardcover novels sold in the United States; in recent years, Patterson's novels have sold more copies than those of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Patterson#:~:text=Patterson%20works%20with%20a%20variety,Ledwidge%2C%20and%20Peter%20de%20Jonge.