New Power

Power is not what it used to be – it’s not about top-down control anymore; it's about mobilizing the many.

Understanding the Shift: From Old Power to New Power

Power is no longer the tightly-held currency of elites; it's becoming democratized. Before the 21st century, traditional power was hierarchical and centralized. Corporations or government entities made decisions with little input from the public. This old power operated top-down, leaving ordinary people to merely comply or consume.

Today, digital connectivity has leveled the playing field. Technology has lowered barriers for participation, allowing people to take an active role in civic, political, and even economic domains. Old power has been disrupted by this decentralization, creating spaces for collaboration and crowd-led initiatives.

The story of Letitia Browne-James illustrates this shift. Frustrated by ineffective epilepsy treatments, she leveraged the online community PatientsLikeMe to explore and act on credible real-world data. This not only led her to undergo successful brain surgery but also demonstrated how new power tools empower individuals to take control in areas previously governed by top-down expertise.

Examples

• Traditional corporations like Blockbuster operated under old power methods, defining roles and services without public input.
• Platforms like PatientsLikeMe demonstrate the democratization of knowledge and decision-making.
• Social movements like the Arab Spring used technology to amplify grassroots organizing.

Contrasting Values: Old Power vs. New Power

Old power and new power don't just differ in structure; their underlying values clash. Old power thrives on exclusivity, competitiveness, and centralized control. New power favors inclusivity, collaboration, and transparency.

For instance, old power organizations limit access to information, showcasing select decisions as final products. New power disrupts this, valuing open access to processes and data, as seen in movements advocating for institutional transparency. The growing preference for active collaboration over passive consumption is another hallmark of the new power era, where users are encouraged to produce and share, not just consume.

This shift has changed consumer behavior. Instead of lifelong brand loyalties fostered by old power, people now opt in and out of affiliations more fluidly. Membership models like Blockbuster’s have given way to transient interactions on platforms like Twitter or Reddit, where participation depends on shared values and real-time functionality.

Examples

• Apple, despite being a tech pioneer, operates on old power values by centralizing decisions and favoring secrecy.
• YouTube allows new-power values by fostering user-generated content and creativity.
• Temporary brand affiliation is seen in viral challenges like the Ice Bucket Challenge, where participation isn’t tied to long-term loyalty.

Models of Power: Distributed vs. Centralized

Power structures can be visualized. Old power resembles a pyramid, heavily centralized with a clear top-down flow. New power is distributed and resembles a web, involving peer-to-peer connections and shared decision-making.

Occupy Wall Street exemplifies new-power structures by allowing participants to create local decision-making groups. However, this model can be inefficient when consensus is needed quickly. On the other hand, Apple, with its highly centralized decision-making, acts as an "old-power castle." But often, hybrid models—those blending old power's structure with new power's values—work best.

Outdoor clothing company Patagonia, for example, retains centralized production but invites customers to advocate for environmental causes, adopting transparency and collaboration values. Facebook employs a reverse hybrid: It operates its social platform on a new-power model but maintains an old-power relationship in how it controls user data and system-wide decisions.

Examples

• Occupy Wall Street’s open structure highlights the pros and cons of decentralized approaches.
• Patagonia combines centralized manufacturing with grassroots advocacy, bridging old and new power.
• Facebook exemplifies how a company can use a new-power model but retain old-power values.

Spreading vs. Sticking: How Ideas Are Shared Today

Old power focused on making ideas "stick." Catchy slogans like Nike's "Just Do It" exemplify this. Sticky ideas were simple, emotional, and highly memorable. But in the digital age, spreading ideas matters more than making them stick, and new power adds three traits: actionable, connected, and extensible (ACE).

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a prime example. It was actionable — participants had to engage physically by dumping water on themselves. It was connected through social media platforms. And it was extensible: users could remix the concept, adding their personal flair while keeping the core message.

This shift reflects how audiences now prefer to engage directly with ideas and modify them within networks, turning them from messages into movements.

Examples

• The Ice Bucket Challenge leveraged new power to raise awareness for ALS research.
• Social sharing buttons like Facebook’s "Share" give ideas a broader reach.
• Memes go viral due to their extensibility, allowing users to reshape and adapt messages.

Building a Crowd: The Five-Step Process

To harness new power, you must build a crowd. This involves finding key connectors, building an appealing brand, lowering participation barriers, moving participants up the engagement scale, and harnessing their collective energy.

Airbnb is an example of rebranding to stay aligned with new power. In 2014, it redesigned its logo to let users remix it, fostering creative collaboration. GetUp, an Australian advocacy group, created a storm of engagement by successfully crowdfunded a “prank” auction to send a young refugee to surf lessons hosted by a prime minister hostile to refugees.

Lowering barriers is equally critical. Tinder simplified dating to a single thumb swipe, attracting users through ease of use. The participation scale ensures users can climb from being passive consumers to actively shaping the platform’s direction.

Examples

• Airbnb incorporated user input when redesigning its logo.
• GetUp’s surfing prank used crowdsourcing to make political statements.
• Tinder's usability lowered participation barriers, encouraging mass adoption.

The Triangle of Community Roles

Every new-power community has three primary roles: platform owners, participants, and super-participants. Platform owners like Facebook shape broad rules and infrastructure. Participants, the largest group, provide the everyday activity that fuels the ecosystem. Super-participants, however, offer the most value by actively creating, funding, or shaping platform culture.

Examples like Reddit and YouTube illustrate how platforms reward contributors. YouTube shares ad revenue with creators, incentivizing more content. Systems like Reddit’s karma ensure contributors receive recognition, encouraging interaction.

Balancing these roles is key to maintaining harmony. When super-participants feel undervalued or neglected, platforms risk losing engagement. A participative structure, like YouTube's Partner Program, ensures super-participants are invested in the community’s growth.

Examples

• Reddit uses its karma system to encourage active contributions.
• YouTube fosters super-participants through ad revenue sharing.
• Facebook participants provide massive economic value by engaging consistently.

Secondary Players Shape the Organization

A triangle is only part of the story. New-power communities are influenced by players orbiting the core, such as media influencers, NGOs, and the general public. These external actors can boost or harm an organization’s reputation.

The Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children had an engaged core community but failed to manage wider public reactions. It collapsed under criticism despite its viral success. Conversely, Xiaomi connects with its users by integrating customer feedback into its product development, reinforcing its participative culture.

A well-balanced triangle combined with engaged secondary players ensures sustained success and adaptability in the new power landscape.

Examples

• Invisible Children failed to account for external criticism during the Kony 2012 campaign.
• Xiaomi emphasizes user participation through weekly software updates.
• IKEA’s participative assembly model boosts customer attachment to its products.

Leadership in the Age of New Power

New power requires different leadership traits: signaling values through action, structuring participation, and shaping the collective culture. Leaders like Pope Francis excel in these traits. His symbolic acts, like washing the feet of refugees, signal inclusion and humility, fostering empathy among followers.

Structuring involves creating systems that reflect values. Pope Francis’ reforms have decentralized decision-making in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, shaping means setting cultural direction, like his open stance on LGBTQ+ issues, which has subtly shifted church attitudes.

These leadership strategies reflect the balance needed to integrate both old and new power models, as seen in Spain’s Podemos political party, which combines charismatic leadership with crowdsourced policy-making.

Examples

• Pope Francis’ “Who am I to judge” statement shaped inclusiveness within the church.
• Podemos used both old power (strong leadership) and new power (policy crowdsourcing).
• Decentralized organization of the Occupy movement emphasized horizontal participation.

Takeaways

1. Encourage active participation by lowering barriers and offering opportunities to co-create or contribute.
2. Balance centralized leadership and decentralized input to sustain momentum in both new and old power systems.
3. Create actionable, connected, and extensible strategies to spread ideas effectively in the digital world.