The Power of Giving Away Power summary

What’s the difference between a pyramid and a constellation? 

In a pyramid, power consolidates at the top. People are ranked hierarchically according to their function, and they’re expected to fulfill just that function. The leaders at the top make all the important decisions, working backward from a fixed destination. This eliminates some of the uncomfortable uncertainty that comes with running a business or an organization. Everyone knows what they should do at all times. But it also leaves no room for flexibility, new ideas, or spontaneous synergy.

Peter Drucker, who pioneered many of our current ideas about leadership and management and who died in 2005, was considered one of the great business gurus of all time. But most people don’t know that he had a guru himself; Mary Parker Follett. 

Mary was born near Boston in 1868. Even in high school, she was fascinated by the way that knowledge and power were distributed in society. As a woman, she often found herself at the bottom of these power structures. 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is one of the most popular business books of our time. And half of the habits described in it are dedicated to a concept pioneered by Mary: interdependence. 

Interdependence means letting go of that win-lose mindset and striving for mutual connection and co-creation. It means working independently, together. Indeed, most of our important relationships are interdependent. Unless you think about who’s winning your relationship with your mom? Exactly. There’s no reason we need to treat our professional relationships any differently.

Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for president was the perfect example of the constellation mindset in action. And as a fundraising strategist, the author was directly involved in its success. 

In fact, it was he who came up with the low-dollar fundraising events that made all the difference. By the time the election rolled around, Obama’s campaign had raised $19 million, as opposed to Hillary Clinton’s $16 million.

Once you’ve discovered how rigid, inflexible, and inhumane the pyramid structure of power really is, it’s hard to unsee it. But it’s also hard to unlearn it. Even those of us who know better keep backsliding.

The author experienced this himself with Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. The feeling of building something big together, which had energized the 2008 election, had largely subsided. The re-election campaign focused more on Obama as a person than the movement surrounding him. And the unofficial slogan “respect, empower, include” was amended by one telling word. It now went: “respect, empower, include, win.”