New Power

New Power Plot Summary

Introduction

Power is undergoing a fundamental transformation in the 21st century. Across business, politics, and culture, we're witnessing a shift from traditional "old power" models that function like currency—hoarded by few, closely guarded, and inaccessible—to "new power" models that operate like currents—made by many, open, participatory, and peer-driven. This transformation isn't merely technological but represents a profound cultural shift in how people expect to engage with organizations, movements, and each other. Understanding this power shift is essential for anyone seeking to lead or create change in today's world. The most successful individuals and organizations are those who can strategically blend old and new power approaches, knowing when to command and when to cultivate, when to assert authority and when to distribute agency. This book explores how participation is reshaping leadership across sectors, examining both the promise of more distributed power models and the challenges they present. Through case studies ranging from political movements to platform businesses, we'll uncover the principles that determine whether new power forces lead to greater democratization or simply new forms of control and inequality.

Chapter 1: Old vs. New Power: Understanding the Fundamental Shift

Power, as philosopher Bertrand Russell defines it, is the "ability to produce intended effects." Today, this ability is increasingly in all our hands. We now have unprecedented capacity to make films, connect with friends, earn money, spread hope, build communities, and even propagate misinformation—all on vastly greater scales than just a few years ago. While technology has certainly changed, the deeper transformation is in our behaviors and expectations. Those who have figured out how to channel this new energy are producing extraordinary impacts in ways that were previously impossible. This fundamental shift can be understood through the lens of old power versus new power. Old power functions like currency—it is held by few, jealously guarded, and the powerful have substantial stores of it to spend. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. It downloads and captures. Think of traditional business models, government structures, or media companies that control information flow from the top down. New power, by contrast, operates like a current. It is made by many, open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads and distributes. Like water or electricity, it's most forceful when it surges. The goal with new power is not to hoard it but to channel it. Examples include movements like #MeToo, platforms like Wikipedia, and businesses like Airbnb that rely on mass participation. This distinction helps explain many modern phenomena: why patients increasingly challenge their doctors' expertise; how ISIS recruits through peer-to-peer networks rather than traditional propaganda; and why established institutions from political parties to corporations struggle to adapt to a world where their authority is constantly questioned. The battle between old and new power is reshaping our world across politics, business, and culture. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for anyone trying to lead, influence, or simply navigate our rapidly changing society.

Chapter 2: From Consumption to Participation: How Ideas Spread Today

In the old power toolkit, our primary instruments were slogans and sound bites. As radio and television dominated media, perfectly crafted phrases that lodged in people's minds were premium currency: "Just do it," "Mission Accomplished," "Where's the Beef?" These messages were designed for download, distributed to masses via limited mediators who controlled access between audiences and institutions. The striking feature of that era was our shared cultural experience. Most people watched the same television shows and read similar newspapers. Those with access to mainstream media or advertising dollars were among the few who could shape culture. Without such access, ideas remained fringe at best. Today's landscape operates differently. Instead of sound bites, we now need "meme drops"—images or phrases designed to spread sideways across media platforms, coming alive when remixed, shared, and customized by peer communities beyond the creator's control. The Ice Bucket Challenge exemplifies this shift—not a perfect piece of content like Nike's "Just Do It," but a compelling blueprint for action that people worldwide could adapt and personalize. This transition requires new principles for making ideas spread. Beyond the traditional qualities that make ideas "sticky" (simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story-driven), today's most successful ideas add ACE qualities: they are Actionable (designed to make you do something beyond just consuming), Connected (promoting peer connections with like-minded people), and Extensible (easily customized and shaped by participants). BuzzFeed exemplifies the Actionable principle—its primary goal isn't just to be read but to be shared. Facebook's research demonstrates the Connected principle—their experiment during the 2010 U.S. elections showed that messages displaying friends who had voted increased turnout significantly more than generic voting reminders. The #GivingTuesday campaign illustrates Extensibility—it was adapted into #GivingBlueDay by the University of Michigan and #GivingShoesDay by Dress for Success, strengthening rather than diluting the movement. These principles apply across domains—from social movements to marketing campaigns to terrorist recruitment. ISIS has masterfully used ACE principles to spread its ideology, creating decentralized content strategies perfectly adapted for social media. This demonstrates that new power tools can serve both constructive and destructive ends.

Chapter 3: Building Effective Communities Through Balanced Power Dynamics

New power communities operate with distinct dynamics compared to traditional organizations. At their core, they involve three key actors: platform owners/stewards who set overarching rules; super-participants who drive energy and create core value; and participants who form the majority of users. The "Reddit Revolt" of 2015 illustrates what happens when this triangle falls out of balance. When Reddit abruptly fired Victoria Taylor, a beloved staff member who served as interface between the company and volunteer moderators, these super-participants rebelled by shutting down major sections of the site. The conflict revealed tensions that had been brewing for years—Reddit Inc. had underinvested in its super-participants while simultaneously trying to impose new content restrictions that clashed with the site's libertarian ethos. The contrast between Uber and Lyft further demonstrates these dynamics. Both ridesharing platforms have similar functionality, but their approaches to community management differ dramatically. When both companies cut driver rates in 2016, Uber announced the changes suddenly on a Friday evening without consulting drivers, leading to protests and boycotts. Lyft, while making similar cuts, gathered driver input first and implemented mitigating measures suggested by drivers themselves. Lyft consistently invests in community-building through driver meet-ups, mentorship programs, and sliding commission scales that reward commitment. Successful platforms must carefully consider: who gets rewarded and who "pays"; who receives recognition and status; what creates stickiness through feedback loops; how trust is established; and who calls the shots in decision-making. The Invisible Children movement, which campaigned against Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, initially balanced these elements effectively. It cultivated "Roadies"—volunteer super-participants who organized screenings and built local communities—and created powerful feedback mechanisms that drove engagement. However, when the organization pivoted to its viral Kony 2012 video, bypassing its established community structure, it lost control of both its message and its movement, ultimately leading to its downfall. The most sustainable new power communities create clear paths to participation with varying levels of engagement. They foster a sense of "optimal distinctiveness"—the delicate balance between belonging to something larger than oneself while maintaining individual identity. And they establish governance systems that distribute decision-making power appropriately between platform owners and community members.

Chapter 4: The Participation Premium: Creating Value Through Engagement

Star Citizen, the most successful crowdfunding campaign in history, reveals how participation transforms economic value in the digital age. This space simulation game has raised over $150 million from backers despite not yet being released. What explains this phenomenon? In the twentieth century, transactions typically fell into two categories: economic exchanges (you buy a product with clear expectations of value) or altruistic donations (you give without expecting financial return). Star Citizen combines these by offering both "something of value" (the promised game) and a "sense of purpose" (saving PC gaming from console dominance). But what truly multiplies its value is the participation element—backers can shape the universe being built, debate designs with like-minded fans, and create their own stories within the community. This creates what we call the "participation premium," expressed as: (Something in Return + Higher Purpose) × Participation. This premium can lead to a decoupling of material value and price, as rewards extend beyond the product itself to include community belonging and creative agency. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone company, has leveraged similar dynamics to become a market leader. Unlike competitors, Xiaomi sells directly to consumers and cultivates passionate "Mi Fans" who participate in product development. Each week on "Orange Friday," Xiaomi releases updated user interface versions and solicits community feedback, effectively creating what co-founder Wanqiang Li calls "a research and development team of 100,000 people." This approach aligns with what behavioral economists call the "IKEA effect"—people place higher value on products they help create. Even seemingly trivial participation can generate remarkable results, as demonstrated by Zack Brown's potato salad Kickstarter that raised $55,000 despite an initial $10 goal. For organizations seeking to harness the participation premium, new funding skills are essential: creating compelling narratives that inspire action; building feedback loops that show impact; designing participation structures that allow meaningful contribution; cultivating super-participants who amplify value; and creating moments of urgency that galvanize support.

Chapter 5: New Power Leadership: Signaling, Structuring, and Shaping

The contrast between Barack Obama and Donald Trump illustrates two distinct approaches to leadership in a new power world. Obama's 2008 campaign was the ultimate example of a "Crowd Leader" approach, combining new power tools with new power values. His iconic "Yes We Can" chant and "We are the ones we've been waiting for" message emphasized collective agency, while his campaign platform MyBarackObama.com enabled unprecedented volunteer participation. Trump, conversely, exemplifies what we call the "Platform Strongman"—a leader who co-opts new power tools while advancing authoritarian values. His campaign harnessed decentralized social media armies that took cues from him while feeding him new narratives and lines of attack. Rather than restraining his most extreme supporters, Trump empowered them, retweeting white supremacists and offering to pay legal fees for supporters who attacked protesters. These contrasting approaches reveal three key capabilities for effective new power leadership: signaling, structuring, and shaping. Pope Francis demonstrates these skills masterfully. His signaling began with his first acts as pope—refusing the traditional red cape, greeting cardinals at their level rather than from a throne, and asking the crowd to pray for him rather than offering his blessing. His structuring efforts include pushing power away from Rome toward local leaders through initiatives like the Synod on the Family, which consulted ordinary Catholics worldwide. His shaping work is evident in his emphasis on mercy over judgment, exemplified by his famous "Who am I to judge?" response regarding homosexuality. Other effective new power leaders include Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, who redirected her MacArthur "Genius" grant to create leadership opportunities for domestic workers; Beth Comstock at GE, who transformed the company's innovation approach by engaging communities beyond its walls; and Lady Gaga, who built her "Little Monsters" community to empower fans rather than simply promote herself. The contrast between Howard Schultz's failed #RaceTogether campaign and the successful #BlackLivesMatter movement further illustrates these principles. Schultz's initiative centered himself as hero, failed to meaningfully structure participation, and ignored input from those most affected. #BlackLivesMatter, initiated by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, succeeded by emphasizing collective participation, building supportive structures for local chapters, and shaping a movement committed to radical inclusivity.

Chapter 6: Blending Powers: Strategic Frameworks for Modern Organizations

While much of this book has highlighted the tension between old and new power, some organizations have discovered how to blend these approaches, creating models where old and new power reinforce each other. Rather than seeing the pairings as dichotomies—open or closed, download or upload—these organizations find that the combination can be greater than the sum of its parts. Local Motors exemplifies this blending approach in manufacturing. Founded by Jay Rogers, a former Marine, the company creates vehicles through open collaboration with a global community of 60,000 designers, engineers, and enthusiasts. For their Strati car, they received 207 complete designs from 40 countries, with the winning concept coming from a relatively unknown Italian designer. Yet this openness is balanced with rigorous testing and safety standards—areas where old power expertise remains essential. Similarly, TED has transformed from an exclusive conference into a global ideas platform by carefully blending power approaches. While maintaining curatorial control over its main stage (old power), it created TEDx, allowing anyone to organize local TED-style events under specific guidelines. This combination has expanded TED's reach to over 130 countries while preserving its reputation for quality. The Dutch news platform De Correspondent offers another successful blend. Founded through crowdfunding, it has built a sustainable model based on 60,000 paying members who not only fund the journalism but actively contribute expertise to stories. Journalists openly share their research processes and invite reader participation, yet maintain editorial independence and journalistic standards. Even the U.S. intelligence community has experimented with blending powers. Following intelligence failures around Iraq's weapons programs, agencies created Intellipedia, a classified wiki allowing intelligence professionals across agencies to collaborate. This platform maintains necessary security protocols while enabling broader information sharing and challenging the traditional "need to know" culture. These examples reveal key principles for effective power blending: engage communities around genuine value creation, not just marketing; provide meaningful agency within appropriate boundaries; combine the best aspects of old and new power rather than fully abandoning either; and recognize that different contexts require different blending approaches.

Chapter 7: The Future of Power: Navigating Between Exploitation and Empowerment

As new power forces continue to reshape society, we face critical questions about who will control these currents and to what ends. Three potential futures emerge from the current landscape, each with profound implications for how power operates. The first scenario is a "full-stack society" dominated by platform monopolies. Companies like Facebook and Amazon are becoming increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, from communication to commerce to civic engagement. These platforms extract enormous value from user participation while concentrating decision-making power among a small elite. This creates what we call "participation farms," where billions of people generate value that primarily benefits platform owners. The second possibility is a "society of super-participants," where opportunities for meaningful participation expand but remain unequally distributed. In this world, those with the right skills, connections, and resources thrive in the new economy, while others face increasing precarity. We already see this divide emerging between those who can leverage platforms to build personal brands and businesses versus those relegated to the "gig economy" without security or advancement opportunities. The third alternative is a "liquid democracy" that genuinely distributes power more broadly. This would require redesigning our institutions to blend the best of representative democracy with new participatory mechanisms. Taiwan's vTaiwan platform offers a glimpse of this potential—it engages citizens in policy deliberation through digital tools while maintaining necessary governance structures. The battle between these futures will be shaped by how we design our platforms, regulations, and institutions. Will we allow platform monopolies to consolidate power, or will we demand models that share value and decision-making more equitably? Will we accept increasing inequality of participation, or will we build systems that expand meaningful agency to all? The stakes of this battle extend beyond economics to fundamental questions about human dignity and agency. In a world where participation is increasingly essential to economic and social life, the right to meaningful participation becomes a crucial form of power. How we distribute this power will determine whether new technologies and social models lead to greater freedom and flourishing or to new forms of exploitation and control.

Summary

The fundamental insight of "New Power" is that we are witnessing a profound transformation in how power operates in our society—from currency-like old power that is hoarded by few to current-like new power that flows through networks of participation. This shift requires us to develop new capabilities, whether we're building movements, growing businesses, or simply trying to have impact in our communities. The most successful leaders and organizations will be those who can skillfully navigate between old and new power approaches, knowing when to command and when to cultivate, when to assert authority and when to distribute agency. The ultimate challenge is not simply to harness these new power forces but to channel them toward creating a more equitable, participatory society where power is genuinely shared rather than merely extracted in new ways. As we stand at this crossroads, our collective choices about how to design our platforms, movements, and institutions will determine whether the rise of participation leads to greater democratization or to new forms of control and inequality.

About Author

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Jeremy Heimans

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