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Indigenous and political leaders could do worse than adopt the mantra of one the country's most successful sporting teams when they assemble on Monday to discuss constitutional recognition of the first Australians.
Before they won back-to-back AFL premierships in 2013-14, players at the Hawthorn Football Club committed themselves to four "behaviours" that are just as front-of-mind this season.
Among them: "Leave your ego on the hook when you arrive" (borrowed from former coach and philosopher Allan Jeans); be utterly "selfless"; and commit to "open and honest communication".
Never before have so many Indigenous leaders and thinkers been invited to meet with the country's prime minister and opposition leader on a single issue and the challenge they facing could hardly be more daunting.
The polls reflect a national will to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the country's founding document, but there is no broad consensus about the form that recognition should take, the route that should be taken to achieve it, or when the question should be put.
Most troubling of all, there is no momentum to galvanise that national inclination into an unstoppable force or clear understanding of what is at stake if the opportunity is squandered.
For this, Tony Abbott bears significant responsibility. Late last year Mr Abbott declared his willingness to "sweat blood on this," insisting the cause was "at least as important as all the other causes this government has been prepared to take on".
To the frustration of several key players, the self-declared "Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs" has done very little to steer the discussion toward a successful outcome.
But Indigenous leaders share responsibility for the drift, too. So far, there simply has not been a serious, in-depth discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the two substantive proposals on offer and the risks associated with them.
The only consensus, so far as there is one, is that minimalist symbolic change won't do. The hope is that the summit will result in an agreement on a process to reach agreement on a question that both sides of politics will support and the nation will embrace.
"By Monday afternoon, everybody will have an impression about whether we can get there," is how one anxious participant figure expressed it.
If they do, it will be time to embrace the fourth "behaviour" of the football club: "Fight to the death to achieve your goal."
