Power Over | Power With

01/28/21 • 12 min

Power is ever present in organizations--and in change. Most change efforts rely on power over--the sorts of power that involve directives and rewards, and some times threats. But you'll get better results using power with. In this episode I'll talk about the sort of power most commonly used in organizations--and why you might not want to use them to accomplish change.
If you want to learn more, you read Raven and French's seminal paper, The Bases of Social Power.

Previous Episode

The Forest Succession Principle

What do forests have to do with organizational change? The ecological process of forest succession shows us that new plant communities take hold when the environment is ripe for them. That each new plant community, in turn alters the environment—making it possible for another plant community to take hold. And I think that is a very useful way to think about making sustainable changes in organizations.

Next Episode

Top Down Change

I've lived with five different dogs in my life, and each one has taught me something valuable--including lessons about organizational change.

In this episode I'll share the story of how I imposed a change on my dog...and how her responses mirrored those I see in top down change in organizations.