"Through the power of onlyness, an individual conceives an idea born of his narrative, nurtures it with the help of a community that embraces it, and, through shared action, makes the idea powerful enough to dent the world."
- The Power of Onlyness, page 3
"…the journey that leads you to yourself doesn’t require knowing exactly where you’re going or a map outlining precisely how to get there."- The Power of Onlyness, page 58
It’s very likely that the path to defining—and realizing—your onlyness will be messy. It will probably leave you feeling vulnerable, and perhaps even scared. That’s invariably part of the process. As Merchant reminds us, “discovering purpose is exploratory and therefore leaves you especially vulnerable.”
Merchant says that there are three “skills that will enable you to discover your purpose”. They are:
In the Insights below we’ll explore how questions (a component of noticing) are often the first step to defining your onlyness, and then how to take action.
"It’s when you encounter such questions—ones that you can’t answer, but can’t stop thinking about—that you also have the first clue to discovering what matters to you."- The Power of Onlyness, page 59
What’s the one question that’s keeping you up at night? That persecutes you throughout the day, and weasels itself into your mind at the most inconvenient times and doesn’t give you a moment’s peace? It’s highly likely that annoying question is the key to unlocking your onlyness.
That one question might seem highly unusual, and if it does, all the better. It means you’re onto something. André Delbecq wanted to explore spirituality in business, especially in terms of leadership. He was repeatedly told that “faith and fortune don’t mix”, but pursued his ambition anyway, and ultimately found his co-denters (those individuals who believe in your onlyness and will help you you achieve it). But isolating the question is just the beginning. “Give yourself permission to pursue the question you have, even if others might view it as a bit nuts,” Merchant advises. “Then, do the necessary work, even if you don’t know exactly how it will turn out. It’s in the process of doing that work that you become ready to make a dent.”
But what do I do, you might be asking yourself, if I don’t have a question that’s tormenting me night and day? Not all of us have that one question we can identify right now, and it’s very likely that it may come in time. As Merchant explains, often “it could be that your dent right now isn’t a thing to do, but a way to be, perhaps to find onlyness in people around you and help them to make their dent.”
"Devote the greater part of time and energy to action, because that’s when you discover what you care about, [and identify and] meet the people who can help you, to form the [basis] to be successful in the new thing."- Herminia Ibarra, quoted in The Power of Onlyness, page 67
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, Dictionary.com defines navel-gazing as “self-indulgent or excessive contemplation of oneself or a single issue, at the expense of a wider view.” We’ve all been reminded of the importance of introspection time and again. It is a valuable tool, but too much of it, especially in the context of realizing our onlyness, can be detrimental to action. When we’re naval-grazing we’re remaining firmly within the bounds of our comfort zone; we don’t learn anything and we don’t grow. As Merchant points out, “if you navel- gaze at the beginning, you won’t have any new information to parse, and your existing tribe will likely tell you, ‘That idea is too weird, too wild.’ Because for them, it is.”
If you need more impetus to get going, consider this sobering fact, and perhaps file it away for future reference: “powerful people actually take more action than those less powerful.”
The important thing is to make like Nike and just do it!
Nilofer Merchant’s The Power of Onlyness is a powerful reminder to each of us that, regardless of our position in the hierarchy, we all have the potential to make a dent in the world if we just take the time to harness our onlyness. I’d like to give the last word to the great Martha Graham, who Merchant quotes in the text: “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it.”
Nilofer Merchant, CEO, Rubicon Consulting, is a sought after global high-tech industry thought leader and trusted strategic advisor for companies such as Adobe, Symantec and VMWare. As Rubicon’s CEO, she has built a distinguished team of fellow strategists, who collaborate with a wide range of Silicon Valley executives at client firms such as Autodesk, Hewlett-Packard, Pinnacle, Openwave, SAP, Symantec and others.Rubicon’s proprietary methodology continuously delivers significant material results to clients, driving revenue growth, market share-price and profits. This approach resulted in an additional $28 million in profit over 6 months for one industry leader.Merchant founded Rubicon in 1999 after gaining fifteen years of operational experience in key leadership positions at notable technology firms such as Apple, Autodesk, and GoLive (later acquired by Adobe). The experience she gained in pricing, product management, the channel, sales, marketing and revenue generation prepared her for the interdisciplinary deep listening and precision questioning that are at the heart of Rubicon’s work today.Through her many successes (and some losses), Nilofer has honed her multidisciplinary approach for assessing a business situation clearly, applying critical wisdom, and defining a strategic direction. Her ability to put business history in context enables her to discern the right future moves. Her writing and ideation abilities have led to syndication with major business publishing entities. At conferences, the energetic, approachable and pragmatic keynote speaking style helps people connect to her vision whether their role is that of a board member, grad student, an engineer, marketer, or a business leader.Nilofer holds an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University, a B.S. in Economics from University of San Francisco, and is an Interaction Associates-certified Instructor of Facilitative Leadership.Nilofer contributes to her local church’s strategy and stewardship plans, and has held the Chair of Community Fundraising position as a Board Member of the Cupertino YMCA. Early on, she was a Governor-appointee to the California Community College Board of Trustees — a position she held for an unusually long 3-year term. Nilofer and her husband enjoy the challenge of integrating the complexities of their respective high tech careers and personal interests with the demands of parenting.
