{"id":7232,"date":"2017-08-22T12:03:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T16:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=7232"},"modified":"2017-08-22T12:03:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T16:03:12","slug":"embrace-your-onlyness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/embrace-your-onlyness\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace Your Onlyness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7235\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7235\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7235\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/Nilofer-Merchant-ASAE-2017-inspire.jpg\" alt=\"Nilofer Merchant speaks to association executives during a keynote address at the 2017 ASAE Annual Meeting.\" width=\"500\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/Nilofer-Merchant-ASAE-2017-inspire.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/Nilofer-Merchant-ASAE-2017-inspire-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7235\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Nilofer Merchant speaks to association executives during a keynote address at the 2017 ASAE Annual Meeting.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Nilofer Merchant wants to live in world where all ideas matter.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Merchant, an innovation expert and opening keynote speaker at the ASAE 2017 Annual Meeting &amp; Exposition, shared with nearly 5,000 attendees why it\u2019s so important that new ideas\u00a0can\u00a0and\u00a0do\u00a0and\u00a0should\u00a0come from anyone and everywhere.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Ideas are fuel for innovation,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Ideas are the way we build and make progress toward the future we want.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>We\u2019re at an unprecedented moment in time, Merchant said. The internet and our constant connectedness have changed the way we see ourselves and allow others to see us. Today, individuals and their ideas are driving the modern world and economy.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Merchant has coined this phenomenon &#8220;onlyness.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Onlyness values the distinct perspective that each individual brings to the table \u2013 it values what only they can contribute. Then as individuals build and create &#8220;like&#8221; communities and networks, this meaningful connectedness helps cultivate belonging and spread ideas on an unprecedented scale.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Where many people once would have fallen into the trap of believing that a person has to be in a position of power to share an idea. In reality, most ideas \u2013 up to 99 percent according to some studies Merchant has seen \u2013 come &#8220;from left field.&#8221; In other words, status or a seat at the table are no longer a prerequisite.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Just because others say its marginal, doesn\u2019t mean its not meaningful,&#8221; Merchant said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>This article originally appeared in the Aug. 14, 2017 edition of Association Adviser.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nilofer Merchant, an innovation expert, shares why it\u2019s so important that new ideas come from anyone and everywhere. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":7235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[411,225,642,1355,1356],"class_list":["post-7232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-asae-annual-meeting","tag-innovation","tag-new-ideas","tag-nilofer-merchant","tag-onlyness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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