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February 17, 2006
True Power Lies in Being Flat as a Pancake
Tom Friedman, the New York Times Op-Ed columnist, has a corner on the "flat" market. But Paul Saffo, founder and director of the Institute of the Future in Palo Alto, has added an interesting twist. A quick personal note--Saffo and I rowed freshman crew at Harvard and have been friends since 1973 when we froze during practice on the Charles River.
Saffo contends that throughout history, the most powerful institution had the biggest building in town. It starts with the castle, built by the monarch. This was followed by the church or mosque, erected by the dominant religious interest. Then there was city hall, such as the Hotel de Ville in Paris, constructed by the government. Finally, there are the cathedrals of commerce, the giant office towers of the multinational corporations. According to Saffo, each of these organizations depended on a pyramidal organization structure, with set social mores, means of advancement and top down command.
Yet today, he contends, power resides in the pancake structure of non-governmental organizations, social networks of consumers and other peer-to-peer enterprises. The voluntary aspect of membership, the desire to learn from others who share a passion and the specialized nature of the interest are new organizing principles. It is the networked and empowered individual who drives change.
The traditional institutions of business, government, religion, and labor union have not yet adjusted to this pancake universe. They often still espouse control of the message and limitation of access. They give preference to elites, including institutional investors, regulators, legislators and top-rated media. They embrace the cult of personality, whether for the CEO, the President or the Pope. They prefer the inside game, working the hallways of power, to the transparent process of continuous discussion and clear identification of objective.
Here is a perfect example of how pancake power can be combined with traditional, top-down techniques to achieve a policy goal. Yesterday, in San Francisco, I attended a breakfast meeting of the Bay Area Council. At the end of the session, we had a very animated discussion on the inability of the City to develop adequate low-cost housing in the face of determined opposition by the "preservationists." The debate has been framed as big business versus the environment, the interests of the few against the interests of the people. In fact, the people, including firemen, nurses and teachers are being driven out of the city by sky-high housing prices. Why not change the face of those demanding change, from the real estate developers to the recently graduated nurse? What about creating a coalition of academia, business, unions, NGOs? The ideas for the plan can come from the community--through town meetings, via on-line critiques of proposed locations or designs. There should be a central place for information on the affordable housing issue, why not âmyvisionforanaffordableSF.com?â This could even become a place for funny videos on absurdly long commutes by working people, giving an emotional face to the discussion.
I am very fond of the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose admonition against the arrogance of those who believe that power comes from control. "I met a traveller from an antique land who said this vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert..Near them in the sand half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command which yet survive stamped on those lifeless things...On the pedastal these words appear, 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair.' Nothing besides remains..."
Posted by Edelman at February 17, 2006 8:58 AM
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Comments
Richard, I read The World is Flat and found it to be fascinating. I used the term "hyper-efficient" to describe a PR client to the Wall Street Journal and created an A2 placement. As a former summer intern at LA Edelman, I really enjoy this blog and surf in frequently.
Thanks for sharing your insight -
JT
Posted by: John Thatcher at February 23, 2006 7:01 PM
This whole concept of power lying in the flat organization without huge buildings is fascinating. NGOs made the Battle of Seattle happen in 1999 via cell phone. Now we are beyond that early phase into blogs. Come back to Edelman some day.
Posted by: Richard Edelman at February 26, 2006 5:13 PM