New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World.

A discussion about how power works and how to harness it for success, featuring Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, recorded live at Betaworks Studios in New York City.

For this episode of our podcast Builders, we are delighted to bring you Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms discussing their new book, New Power. This live event was organized buy our friends and fellow Studio members, Heleo as part of their excellent Next Big Idea Club.

For those of you who like reading bestselling non-fiction before they become bestsellers, this club is for you. Two books a month curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain and Daniel Pink. Take a look.

The event itself was a perfect example of New Power. Henry and Jeremy gave a very short introduction into some of the themes of the book. They talked about the transition from Old Power to New Power. Jeremy spoke on Harvey Weinstein being the classic Old Power example:

Think of Harvey Weinstein as an exemplar, in one sense, of how do you exercise old power to preserve your position? He got away with decades of abuse because he understood how to command an industry, he treated power like a currency. He spent to reward his friends and punish his enemies to create a wall around himself of intimidation.

After the introduction, in true New Power style, they handed over the power to the busy crowd. What followed was an energetic hour long question and answer discussion featuring studios members and other guests from the startup and tech industry.

We talked about the sorts of companies that are figuring out when to employ New Power tactics and how they apply in the real, everyday world. The secret sauce, as Henry explained, is being able to pull both new and old power levers:

There are very few organizations that are good at pulling both, there are some that are very good at old power and some that are good at New Power, but getting that combination right, we think, is kind of the secret sauce of the 21st century.

Listen to this latest episode of the podcast for a ton of fascinating ideas around how organizations harness power. Ranging from political parties, startups and century old institutions.

You’ll also hear about regulation and transparency in this new world. And then once we are finished with this world how power structures might work on Mars. Yes, it seems that no matter where you go these days you can’t escape Elon Musk.

Thanks again to Henry and Jeremy for this amazing session. If you are even remotely interested in networks, new leadership and future thinking this is a must for you.

Take a listen, let us know what your favorite parts were and any other feedback.

For other episodes of builders subscribe here. We have sessions on Building Experiences for Instagram, building and designing for Blockchain, the Chaos of the Ad Industry and why you should delete your social media accounts with visionary Jaron Lanier.

To be a part of these lives sessions check out the Betaworks Studios calendar of upcoming events. If you’d like to get more of a feel for the space contact me and I’ll arrange a visit or day pass.

Until then, happy listening and happy building.

James and the Studios Team.