Harnessing the power of the crowd: humanitarian action in an era of New Power

Over the past decade, we’ve seen shifts in power dynamics throughout the world. Increased political protest, calls for new models of governance, social technologies reshaping how and where we connect, and business model innovations that are irreversibly disrupting traditional industries and eroding sectors. From consumers to producers. Co-design to co-production. Products to platforms. So what’s changed? Power dynamics are shifting from old to new.

In New Power, Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms describe the key difference:

Old power works like a currency. It is held by few. Once gained, it is jealously guarded, and the powerful have a substantial store of it to spend. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. It downloads, and it captures.

New power operates differently, like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads, and it 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.

As humanitarian agencies, we aren’t immune to these shifts. We need to embrace them. Gone are the days where people sign up as members and volunteers for life, and we tell them what to do. If we are to nurture an inclusive and active humanitarian movement driven by the power of people, then we must embrace ideas, organisations and interventions that prioritise participation over control. This means radical transparency and distributed power to individuals, peers and networks. This means reimagining the role of organisations, brands and movements in sparking, supporting and channelling the efforts of communities.

The REDXFutures team at Australian Red Cross is partnering with Purpose to explore the role of new power in designing for humanitarian action at scale. Purpose (co-founded by Heimans) build and support movements to advance the fight for an open, just, and habitable world.

Last week, Simon Goff (MD Europe + Asia-Pacific) and Manuela Murrle (Senior Strategist) dropped in to share their insights on how to harness and leverage the power of the crowd to enhance impact. We examined case studies, frameworks and tools to better understand what it means for us to be open, participatory and peer-driven. We reflected on how power dynamics have evolved at Australian Red Cross from 1919 to today, and into the future.

New power isn’t a panacea. There’s still an important role and place for old power models and values. We’d love to hear from you about your thoughts on new power:

• Do you think this is relevant to your work?
• What opportunities and/or challenges do you see in applying new power ideas?
• What insights have you learned from exploring and testing different power dynamics?
• What examples can you share which highlight the potential (or challenges) of applying new power concepts to social change?

Our doors are open. If you are also thinking about the role of people-power in social change at scale, we’d love to have you as part of our network of thinkers and doers. Get in touch at redxfutures@redcross.org.au.