Power of Uniqueness, The [Paperback]

Arthur F. Miller Jr. (Author), Bill Hendricks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Based on the idea that every person is endowed from birth with a unique pattern of competencies and motivations, or giftedness, this book describes your Motivated Abilities Pattern (MAP), which indicates your personal giftedness and encourages you to pursue your unique calling and live a purposeful life that is highly productive and richly satisfying.  Formerly titled Why You Can't Be Anything You Want to Be.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"You can be anything you want to be."

Don’t let that lie rob you of your energy and purpose in life!

You may function adequately at a job, even forge an impressive career--but unless what you do is lit by an inner fire, you’re just getting by. Because the truth is, you were created with an indelible, highly personal pattern of innate giftedness and motivation. Arthur Miller calls it your Motivated Abilities Pattern, or MAP, and it’s nothing you learned. It’s something you were born with, the thing that makes you tick and determines your successes and failures.

In this revolutionary book, Miller invites you to explore concepts far different from anything you’ve ever read in a career development guide. Drawing on nearly 40 years’ experience analyzing the achievements of over 50,000 people, Miller uncovers a discovery about human nature that can literally change your life. If you feel frustrated and unmotivated by your present occupation--if you’ve spent months and even years wondering what to do with your life--this book can steer you in new directions that pack incredible returns.

About the Author

Arthur F. Miller Jr. is the founder of People Management International, Ltd. An author , a speaker and presenter at numerous national and regional conferences and workshops, he has served as the director of personnel at the University of Chicago’s Argonne facility and as director of industrial relations for Raytheon. He lives in Washington, Connecticut.

William Hendricks is a freelance writer, coauthor of numerous books, and founder of The Hendricks Group, which specializes in pinpointing the motivational strengths and makeup of individuals. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310242886
• ISBN-13: 978-0310242888
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST book to help you find a good job fit, December 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Power of Uniqueness, The (Paperback)

I am going to be brief. I have been through a number of job changes over a thirty year career so far. This is one of the top books in its class-- for job hunters and career changers!

Art Miller's book assumes you are created with uniquely motivated abilities that are written into you as your own internal job description.

Matching this internal job description with that of an employer is what enables you to get JOY out of your job by flowing in the areas of giftedness that you are motivated to use.

Imagine your motivated abilities as a water faucet. In a good job fit situation, you can turn on that faucet and let it flow. In a poor fit situation you have to keep it at a drip. Where will you be happiest? Where will your employer be happiest with your work?

This book, (or a number of consultants out there-- check the web) will show you how to assess your motivated abilities, using Art Millers SIMA profile, or "system for identifying motivated abilities". Art started working on this system in the early '60's. It has been around for a long time and a number of major corporations, and churches, non-profits, are using this system to find the right fit for the people they hire.

Take the job fit test at their web site for a taste at www.sima-pmi.com.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for help to understand your 'wiring' better?, February 4, 2006

By 

T. Thigpen (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power of Uniqueness, The (Paperback)

In The Power of Uniqueness: How to Become Who You Really Are, Arthur Miller addresses the subject of giftedness of individuals. He writes not only to Christians but also to anyone who is interested in learning more about their own pattern of giftedness, and particularly to those who are able to affect change - personal or structural - in the marketplace. Miller's principal assertion is that a person's pattern of giftedness "emerges in early childhood and remains fundamentally the same throughout life in its essential content, structure, and dynamics" (18).

He begins by asking the reader to reconsider the conventional way of evaluating people - looking at where they were educated, for how long, and what related experience they have - and invites us instead to evaluate them by looking at what a person likes to do and do well. By employing both case studies and lists of examples of various gifted patterns, he then invites the reader to rediscover their own giftedness, or motivational pattern. The author argues that by examining how a person does things and why they do them, individuals can "unlock [their] essence." Finally, Miller concludes with a plea to reorient life and society in light of these truths. In addition to encouraging the individual to pursue the life and career for which they are most suited, he suggests substantial changes on the institutional level - in work, education and religion - to rebuild a society that better enables life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

The Power of Uniqueness is provocative and informative. Aside from giving an informed view of how he believes a person's environment shapes giftedness, Miller's book succeeds both in delivering a refined method of evaluating giftedness and in empowering the reader to see themselves and others as individuals who have something unique to give. Miller's book truly engaged me to reconsider my preconceived notions of personal evaluation, rediscover what has been given to me, and reorient my own life and work accordingly.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, January 15, 2004

By 

Dr. W. G. Covington, Jr. (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power of Uniqueness, The (Paperback)

The purpose of this book is to help you identify your uniqueness and build upon your discovery. He writes, "... you are the customized expression of a loving God." He describes the process of success as being ongoing and discusses how to maintain the momemtum. Discovering one's area of giftedness and building on that in a way that glorifies God is the essence of the book.

He devotes more discussion on specific ways of discovering one's giftedness and how to apply that knowledge to everyday life. The weakness of the book is the extreme to which he takes his argument. He sees dramatic shifts occurring in society to accomodate people's giftings. His proposals are far from practical. Sometimes one simply has to work outside one's giftedness tempoarily, e.g., when one is in college.

The first part of the book is the strongest. His insight is helpful in getting a better handle on how to live in a targeted, fulfilling manner.