Network Power.

David John Seel, Jr.

Network Power is one of those books for me. You know, the ones that resonate with what you think, hear, and intuit to be true but cannot articulate? It was the second book to do so, the first being The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch in 2003. It was 2023 when I read Network Power, so it’s been a while. These quotes animate me. “If… faith-based organizations are to regain their footing in the world for the common good, to restore their cultural influence, and genuinely make a lasting difference, it will need to align with the social dynamics of dense networks… It is now time to seize the momentum of a highly connected world that moment of history has afforded by embracing the power of dense networks”. This brings great hope as we know we have hard work to do as a Church and are longing and praying for a new way forward. A profoundly scientific structure and a theologically solid pathway are great gifts.

The primary tenet of the book is the power of the dense network to make a difference within a particular area of society. “Dense networks are effective because they are true to reality. In traditional Christian terms, the Trinity is the why behind the what of dense networks. It is not just a good idea or a useful tool, it is the way reality works.” Seel contrasts reality with six ineffective approaches. This contrast reinforces networks as an approachable and hopeful way forward for 21st-century Church leaders to think. Consider these other ways we try to create social or cultural change.

“First is the assumption that cultural change is the result of getting the right person into a position of leadership.”

“The second wrong approach is to think that cultural change can be achieved through political coercion or mass mobilization.”

“A third wrong approach is to assume that culture operates on the basis of the free market.”

“A fourth wrong approach is to place the emphasis on polemics, in particular the need for adopting a correct worldview or ideological perspective.”

“A fifth approach focuses on positive psychology, suggesting that if persons are well-adjusted, empowered with self-esteem, or reinforced with gratitude or happiness, culture will change.”

“The sixth approach is reliance on spiritual revival.”

Having experienced these approaches and seeing them identified as ineffective was a breath of fresh air. It aligned with my reality, at least. And it relates to a recent Seth Godin post considering the stories we tell ourselves entitled True/Useful.

Dense networks fall firmly in the resilient quadrant. And we need resilient strategies to move forward against the status quo.

Network Power brings the abstract and scientific reality of the power of dense networks through stories of how this reality affects our everyday lives. Seel pulls from the history of The Clapham Circle’s ability to catalyze the abolition of slavery in England. For life today, The Campaign for Equal Rights has redefined reality for millions by changing the frame with which the LGTBQ is viewed. How the Federalist Society has used the self-organizing principles of the dense network to affect our legal system. Seel shares how the Windrider Institute has wisely served the Sundance Film Festival to become an influence on the artistic community, a significant component of defining reality. We may or may not agree with the agenda of any of these organizations’ goals, but they have been influential points to the power of dense networks to create social and cultural change.

The metaphor Seel uses throughout Network Power to help us grasp the power is that of Archimedes and his quote, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

Seel breaks the elements that make a dense network ‘work’ into the categories of The Catalyst, The Lever, the Fulcrum, and the World from the famous drawing.

This metaphor provides an excellent understanding from a cause-and-effect perspective. For those of us raised on industrial-age management practices, seeing ourselves as a catalyst and applying power to affect others is comforting. There is a problem with this. It’s not how change works.

The Archimedes metaphor has a very mechanistic feel, and we like that. If we have our hands on the lever and work hard enough to get a good fulcrum and long enough lever, we are in control of the change. If I do A, then I know it get result B. In private correspondence, author Seel, as he contemplates a follow-up book to Network Power concerning implementing the power of dense networks, proffers, “While it (the metaphor) proved heuristically useful to underscore the importance of networks as how the world works, it is inadequate for applying a network strategy because dense networks are ultimately a nonlinear organic model.” He is describing the complexity of real life.

While Network Power was one of the many influences that rekindled the pursuit of developing network tools for church leaders, it was unique in that it showed why and how it works. Theory is one thing; practical application in real-life situations is another. Having said that, it is practical in the sense that macroeconomics is practical. It does not mean it is simple, easy, or necessarily controllable. It just understands that complex relationships are at play that ultimately affect one another. Nevertheless, it provided the pathway needed to begin the work to make it practical at the microeconomics level for Church leaders. Given Seel’s love for and ultimate hope in the Bride of Christ, he urges us to take seriously how embracing network power is our best way forward. For such a time as this.