Chronicles Of A 50+ Entrepreneur: New Power - How Power Works In A Hyperconnected World

In the previous articles in this series I write about my experiences as a 50+ entrepreneur and advocate for older workers.

One of the speakers was Jeremy Heimans, co-author of ‘New Power: How Power Works in a Hyperconnected World and How to Make it Work for You’. His TED talk is worth a watch for a 15 minute download of what he and co-author Henry Timms define as a framework for activism in this time.

Heimans is a life-long activist and co-founder and CEO of Purpose. From the Purpose website:

Purpose builds and supports movements to advance the fight for an open, just, and habitable world.

We use public mobilization and storytelling to help the leading organizations, activists, businesses, and philanthropies engaged in this fight, and we create campaigning labs and new initiatives that can shift policies and change public narratives when it matters most.

Old Power vs. New Power

In the book they describe a new mindset for action with the new tools and communities that digital connections enable. New Power dynamics embrace openness, storytelling and self-organization.

As examples, they present use cases including LEGO’s turnaround strategy of welcoming it’s global community of fans, Airbnb’s power flip-flop to the hospitality industry, and the urgency and quick-spreading of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements.

They define the differences between Old Power Values and New Power Values in this chart.

They further illustrate where many of today’s highly visible organizations fit into the matrix of old and new power models and old and new power values.

Within the old model, there are those ‘castles’ which stay firmly in the old models of power and control. There are ‘cheerleaders’ who have old power roots but have embraced some new power values.

Within the new model there are ‘co-opters’ who use old power values with a new power leaning. Or, our favorite, the pure ‘crowds’ who use new power models and values. 

Are We a Camel?

In the appendix to the book there is a glossary of terms that help define New Power. One that stood out and is aligned with Next For Me’s guiding principles and mission is ‘Camel’.

Camel: A new power platform or organization that delivers economic returns that are less spectacular than those of it’s alter-ego the ‘unicorn,’ but serves an important social function and can sustain investors and its community for the long term.

That’s us! Our goals are lofty and serve society, but at the same time we are without a doubt a for profit business. We might not be the next BuzzFeed or Huffington Post, but there are plenty of paths for us to be very profitable, to give a return to our investors, and to continue doing what we’re doing for a long time.

Read The Book

Yes, I’m really into the book and think that it makes sense for social entrepreneurs and other businesses that want to understand the new way of doing things. While I tear into the book a little further, I have found a few tools which we’ll put to work immediately, including a ‘Decision Tree’ to understand when, and whether, to turn to new power. More on this in the next post.

To find out more about New Power visit the website.

• A Conference Talk Leads To What’s ‘Next For Me’
• The Story, The Advisors And The Team
• Putting A Legal Structure In Place
• Spreading The News And Early Investments
• Testing The Facebook Ad Waters
• The Modern Elder Academy
• Can Your Startup Start A Movement
• Meeting Matter.vc
• Becoming A Caregiver Statistic
• Talking To Our Audience
• Making Assumptions And Forming Hypotheses
• How To Cope When You're Alone Again On The Startup Journey
• Developing The Brand Architecture
• Raising An Angel Round and Perception
• A Fellow Entrepreneur Offers Guidance
• The New Pitch
• Gracefully Radio Interview
• Ready For Anything, Even Wait And See
• Always Be Publishing
• Getting Out Of Your Head
• Activating A List Of Investors
• In The Details Of Subscriber Growth
• Interview: StartOut
• Keep On Connecting
• Backing Away From Facebook And Twitter
• Sell Your Product, Not Stories To Investors
• Building An Event Business
• Finding Comfort With Agility
• The Zen Of My Company
• I Got This
• Mapping Our Business Plan
• A Coaching Session and Going Bigger
• Meeting The Competition
• How Writing Boosted My Confidence
• Attending Jason Calacanis’ Launch Scale Conference
• San Francisco Here I Come
• Notes from Launch Scale Conference Part 1
• Notes from Launch Scale Conference Part 2 - Next Door and Network Effects
• Notes from Launch Scale Conference Part 3 - Craig Newmark's Philanthropy, Founders for Change
• A Hometown Premier
• Our One Year Anniversary
• Our Visual Identity Reveal
• Attending Encore.org’s 20th Anniversary Summit