# C2 Concept - Power ## From "Power to the Edge": The word power has one of the longest definitions in the dictionary. This is because power has an instantiation in many domains. Power has meaning in the physical, information, social, political, economic, and, of course, the military domains. Power is a concept that applies to people, teams, organisations, coalitions, countries, machines, and objects of wealth such as fuels and information. In physics, power is about moving objects. In electricity, power is about moving current. In the social and political domains, power is about influence. Power in economics involves wealth creation, while in the military domain it often involves selective destruction. All concepts of power involve the extent of an accomplishment in the face of some measure of resistance. Power has also been defined as “the ability to influence others to believe, behave, or to value as those in power desire.” Power, in the social domain, is a force that allows those “in power” to organise and motivate others to accomplish desired tasks. In organisations, individuals or groups of individuals manifest many different aspects of power, including the power to influence, to organise, to reward, and to accomplish a task. To first order, power is the ability to make something happen. The amount of power is expressed as a vector. Its components include (1) the magnitude of the accomplishment, (2) the amount of opposition, and (3) the time required. Power derives from a number of different sources. These include wealth, expertise, delegation (e.g., the power of elected representatives) and, of course, information. Exercising power requires two fundamental prerequisites: means and opportunity. Available means are not necessarily available for everyone in an organisation. In fact, functional specialisation is the distribution of means. Access to means is usually the result of an allocation of resources. Often the means required involve an orchestration of multiple individuals and/or organisations. In the case of information, it is access that needs to be provided. Information from multiple sources and/or analyses involving multiple perspectives and/ or expertise is often required. Opportunity is a function of (1) the authority to act and (2) circumstances. Circumstances often involve opportunities that are fleeting and one must be able to act individually or in concert with others by a given point in time. Power is therefore something that can, in part, be delegated. The way that an organization exercises power, indeed the power of an organization, depends as much upon the way it is organized as the totality of its means and the information that is available. **Reference:** "[[C2 - Power to the Edge]]" by David Alberts *(Page 166 to 167)*.