We investigate the RPA normal-mode coordinates in the pairing-plus-quadrupole model, with an eye on simplifying the application of large amplitude collective motion techniques. At the Hartree-Bogoliubov minimum, the RPA modes are exactly the cranking operators of the collective coordinate approach. We examine the possibility of representing the self-consistent cranking operator by linear combinations of a limited number of one-body operators. We study the Sm nuclei as an example, and find that such representations exist in terms of operators that are state-dependent in a characteristic manner.