PWA Vice President, Florencia Barbieri, writes about this section enriched with the contributions of the PWA Community, for the growth and empowerment of all of its members.

PWA Community Contributions to give more value to its members!

A community for me is a space where each of us can donate some of our knowledge and time for others to build on it or use it as it best serves them. With the wish that others in the community will do the same and as such the community can grow.

With this in mind, I would like to take the first step by sharing a book review with you. And hopefully next time one of you can share an article on their own that would like to share with our PWA community.

The book is called “The Power of Onlyness. Make your ideas mighty enough to dent the world” by Nilofer Merchant
To start with, let me give you a quote from the book that perfectly embodies what I wanted to say in the opening about communities. “The term ‘follower’ is often used to designate the members of a community. But a more specific description would be ‘joiner’. To join is to be one among equals who want to make something together”.

The underlying idea of the book is that each of us is unique, not because of the role that we play in a company or by credentials obtained, but rather because each of us can bring a unique view to the world and about the world. And that point of view is made of our own history, own experiences, own vision, and own hopes.

Part 1 of the book is entitled: Your Dent. The power of your own meaning.
One is defined not but what has happened to you but by the meaning you give to those things that happened to you. Once you have identified what matters to you and why, you can build your own meaning/purpose. And once you have identified your purpose it is about your ability to act, as it is action that generates change. For those that have not yet found their purpose, this part ends with the following sentence “How do you discover what matters to you (that you can translate into your meaning or purpose)? By doing what matters to you”.

Part 2 of the book is entitled: Co-Denters. The power of meaningful relationships.
That it can be perfectly summarised by quoting two sentences from the book. “The central challenge in onlyness is relational – to meaningfully connect with your fellow denters, which is key to the scaling of your idea in the networked age”. “Relationships are to the modern Social Era what efficiency was to the Industrial Era – the foundation for the kind of scale that makes it possible for individuals to work together to accomplish great things. Relationships are fundamentally based on trust”. In a nutshell you need to identify others who are “like you” to take forward your purpose.

Part 3 of the book is entitled: Denting. Acting as One, Meaningfully.
It covers how to galvanize a crowd of people ‘like you’ to care enough to act and subsequently to execute the idea as passionately as if it were their own. This part ends with a chapter devoted to how an effective systemic design can release the power of new effective and powerful ideas.

The book is worth your time of reading as this review is too short to give it justice. However, if you cannot read it, let me suggest a few things you can start doing:

1. 1. Give yourself the permission of having an original idea, even when no one else is a supporter of that idea.

   2. Honoured the ideas of other people you meet, particularly if you disagree with them.

   3. Share your own passions, your purpose with others and find out theirs.

By  Florencia Barbieri,
PWA Vice President
Business Coach with 20+ years of multinational experience.