2017 Session | Innovate with the Power of Onlyness

So often we hear how innovation depends on fresh takes, new perspectives, and breakthrough ideas. That all forward progress – whether in business, or society – is born of new ideas. Yet, when people are told their ideas are too weird, too wild, or simply “too much”, they tend to give up. Not because they want to, but when one has to choose between activating an idea and belonging to a community, belonging wins. Every. Darn. Time. Until, now. Because, now, you can easily find those who share the same purpose as you, who are equally passionate, motivated, and mobilized. Now you can belong to your weird and wild ideas, AND also to a community of like-minded individuals. This is THE POWER OF ONLYNESS—that an idea, born of the spot in which ONLY you stand, can scale by connectedness, to become mighty enough to dent the world. Companies that harness this power will out-innovate the market. And, it’s the way each of us enacts the change we imagine is possible. In this session, Nilofer Merchant will inspire and offer some specific instruction sets for navigating YOUR power to innovate. Together we will explore:
· How is Onlyness different than confidence building or brand building.
· If belonging is the key to owning your ideas, how exactly do you find “your people”?
· If your boss doesn’t support you, what can you still do to bring YOUR onlyness to work?

Speaker: Nilofer Merchant, business innovator, author and ranked top 50 management thinkers in the world

Emcee: Lynn Tinney, board member, Massachusetts Conference for Women