What is power, anyway?

Tom GravesTetradian Consulting(www.tetradian.com)© Tetradian 2002 / 2009

the futures of business

Almost everyone will saytheywant to be powerful

but what is power, in human terms?

Apparently it’s somethingthat only other people have...

perhaps...

We seem to be certain onlyin knowing

when we don’t have it

than when we do

- whatever it is, anyway.

Since we know when we don’t have it,

someone else must have taken it

- someone’s taken our share

and we want it back, please

- NOW!

but

this isn’t power

it’s a delusion.

Powerisn’t a thing

an objecta pie to be sliced

into equalor unequal

shares.

Nor is power associatedin any real sense

with that feelingof ‘powerlessness’

that we want to avoidso much

that we’ll give it to othersto anyone

for free...

Insteadto understand power

we need to go backto first principles

and in physicspower is

‘the ability to do work’.

‘Power isthe ability to do work’

- simpleclear

uncomplicated

an expression of energynot a ‘thing’

an inherent property of everything.

It’s a property of people, toothough we must

expand that definitiona bit

or else we find ourselvesdefining slavery

as power- not a good idea!

First,‘work’

can be anything people do:

- dig a ditch- solve a technical problem- relate with others- find a sense

of meaning and purpose- calm a fractious child

or an angry client...

Whatever it is that we do,it’s work

and we need powerreal power

human powerto be able

to dothat work.

Next, in human terms,power is an expression of

personal choicepersonal responsibilitypersonal purpose.

Without choicewithout responsibility

- without commitment -the power fades

to nothingor, at least

the brakes go onand little work is done.

Without purposethere’s no direction

so whilst much may seem to happen,

little will be effectivein any real sense -

“an empty thundersignifying

nothing”...

Last,but not least,

‘work’ is only one side of a tetrad:

workplayrelatelearn.

Unless all four exist togetherunless all four are supported

none of them will exist.

So, overall,human power is

the ability toworkplayrelatelearn

as an expression ofpersonal choicepersonal

responsibilitypersonal purpose.

That’s what power is.

And anything elseanything else

that calls itself ‘power’in human terms

is probably a delusion.

The ‘power’ to crush othersthe ‘power’ to take prioritythe ‘power’ to withhold or denythe ‘power’ to trap others

into doing our work for usthe ‘power’ to dump on others

as we please…- none of this is power

in any real, functional senseit’s just a delusion...

It’s a delusion, becauseit’s not sustainable.

Sooner or laterthe delusion falls apart

and usually in waysthat show

the real extentof the delusion.

Real human powercomes from within ourselves;

delusory ‘power’comes from a belief

or fearthat only other people have power,

and that we must take itfrom them

in place of our own.

In effect, delusory ‘power’ depends

on having other peopleto steal from,to bully,to dominate,to cajole.

If that’s our ‘power’,and we’re on our own,

our real powerlessnesssoon comes back to haunt

us...

To hide from that powerlessness,we return to the delusion

of ‘power’again and again.

It feels like powersometimes

but it’s not power- it’s just a delusion.

So delusory ‘power’ is addictive- very addictive...

‘Power over’ others- bullying,

domination -

or ‘power under’ others- manipulation,

blame -

is not real power at all:

it’s an addictive delusionand perhaps

the most common addiction

the most common delusion

of all.

More to the point,it’s a delusion of ‘power’

that prevents real powerfrom existing.

And in businessin our work with others

we need real powernot delusion

to get things done.

We each make that choice- power

or delusion -for ourselves

and with others.

Our power comes onlyfrom within ourselves.

No-one ‘gives’ us power,no-one ‘takes’ our power from us

but we can easily lose itor waste it

in delusionsof our ownor shared with others.

Collectively, we also gainmore powermore ability

to work/play/relate/learnin synergy

where the whole poweris greater

than the sumof each person’s

personal power.

So we can either

help each otherto find

and sharethat real, human power

or hinder each otherin shared delusions.

We either win togetheror we all lose together.

There’s no ‘win/lose’- that’s a delusion too.

Anything which supportsreal power

will improve the ‘bottom line’for everyone- whatever that

‘bottom line’ might be.

Anything which reducesdelusions of ‘power’

will improve the ‘bottom line’for everyone.

The more delusions about ‘power’,

the less real power there isfor everyonefor anyone.

Or, more directly,the less delusions about

‘power’,the more real power there is

for everyone.

So, to summarise,power isn’t

the ‘power’ to crush othersthe ‘power’ to take prioritythe ‘power’ to deny othersthe ‘power’ to trap othersthe ‘power’ to dump on

others…

they’re just delusions about power.

Power isthe ability to

workplayrelatelearn

as an expression ofpersonal choicepersonal responsibilitypersonal purpose

- and shared purpose, too.

So which do you wantfor yourself

and for your organization:

the usual delusionsor

real power?Your choice…

…your responsibility…...the power is yours to

choose!

For further details on how these themes play out in the workplace, see the book

Power and Response-ability- the human side of systems

Tom Graves (Tetradian Books, 2009)

More information, sample chapters and ‘manifesto’ reference-sheet at

http://tetradianbooks.com/2008/07/hss/