The Power of Onlyness

But it’s worth remembering that she started this work about seven years ago, when almost no one thought it was an especially viable idea. Since then, Marie Claire, Oprah Winfrey, and even President Obama’s White House have “discovered” her, and the reason most of us think her timing is perfect is because Kim and others like her had the foresight to

Today, networks offer a new way to get things done. Any collection of people can pursue ideas together without organizational authority or hierarchies.* When value creation is institutional and hierarchical, the vast majority of people are treated as cogs, dispensable and replaceable. But when value creation is networked, the distinct ideas, judgme

In spite of whatever indications suggest that an idea might not work out, you have to be “foolish” enough to make the attempt to make it successful.

Conviction is willingness to do the work, to live with uncertainty, to be open to asking for help, and not to worry about the end result.

I’ve been following your work and I have an idea for how we can create value together and get something done.

You’re standing in a spot in the world that only you stand in, a function of your history and experiences, visions, and hopes. From this spot where only you stand, you offer a distinct point of view, novel insights, and even groundbreaking ideas.

By keeping the focus on the gift itself, though, you can keep your ideas always at the forefront—even if they don’t fall comfortably into an existing “category,” even if there are many other people doing similar things.

“Stop asking yourself what you want, what you desire, what interests you. Ask yourself instead: What has been given to me? Ask: What do I have to give back?”3 Then, act.

The size or weight of onlyness isn’t the point. Notice that it need not have a name, because that’s not the relevant part—only that you can understand enough of what matters to you to understand how to then act on it.