In Our Best Work, Nilofer Merchant names the 24 invisible norms — born of hierarchy, control, and a worn-out model of capitalism — that limit us all. Along the way, she dismantles some of management’s most beloved ideas: Servant Leadership, Personal Branding, Speaking Up, Performance Reviews, Move Fast and Break Things. These aren’t just ideas that fall short — they are daily routines that trap us in the past. Merchant exposes how and why they fail us. But it’s not enough to know the problem. We must also know how to move forward. She lights the path to the future by providing the 24 leading indicators that bring out the best of us and the best in us. 

Do you know which business theory and advice you’ve been taught that’s outdated? Take, for example, the notion of “competitive advantage”. Advantages used to last for 20+ years; today, it’s less than 5 years. Connected people can now do what once only large organizations could. If you use the old rules, you’ll end up outpaced. Based on her Harvard Business Review-published book, Merchant reveals the Success Equation for modern times, and why business performance will depend on tapping Onlyness in this technology-fueled economy.

We often make power about the individual – asking people to be bolder, braver or build a better brand. But that’s not it. We become powerful when ideas that are deeply personal to us are supported and advocated for by others. Power is not simply personal, it’s profoundly social. Finding your power – your Onlyness – is rooted in what matters most to you. When you socialize it, people who believe in it will want to see it realized. This is how your Onlyness is the key to create real change.

New ideas are what propel us into the future. But, shockingly, plenty of data tells us that a lot of innovative ideas get ignored, snubbed, and silenced. In fact, 61% of us actually cause our own innovative ideas to die. It’s counterintuitive because we all believe that with the right combination of sheer brilliance, dogged grit, and fervent hustle, original ideas will triumph and change the world. We need to understand why ideas die and what to do about it. If we don’t, we will continue to waste deep pools of ideas we need to make us competitive, profitable, and relevant.