The Importance of Power Dynamics in Supporting Implementation
By Dr. Julia E. Moore, Executive Director, and Dr. Sobia Khan, Director of Implementation
Note: We have updated our website since this article was published. As a result, you may have been redirected here from a previous URL. If you are looking for the article, "Implementation Tips & Tricks: How power mapping can enhance how you approach your change initiatives” by Julie Battilana, and Tiziana Casciaro, please click here.
Across almost all implementation efforts that we have supported, we have seen people refer to existing power dynamics that influence their work. For example, someone in a position of power might be able to secure additional resources for the initiative. In another situation, someone who is not formally in a position of power, but who is highly influential might be able to persuade and motivate people to join a change movement. Conversely, we’ve seen many situations where people wield power by serving as “gatekeepers” preventing an implementation team from gaining access to people or resources.
Re-imagining implementation planning: Considering power when planning for implementation
While power dynamics have the potential to influence every change initiative, implementation science and practice have not yet emphasized the impact of power on implementation efforts. Power considerations are sometimes embedded in contextual assessments, but do not yet have the prominence that they likely deserve considering the impact power can have on implementation planning.
So what is power? Power is essentially the capacity to be able to influence others. When you think about the connection between power and influence, it unlocks many avenues for how people acquire power, how people might be disempowered, and what types of dynamics are at play when we consider power. This also means that there are many different ways to think about and analyze power. People working in political science, social science, and business have naturally been thinking about the nature of power for a very long time. These fields have both incredibly practical frameworks to describe power, as well as very theoretical lenses that we can wear in order to deconstruct the nature of power.
All of this is to say that when we think about power in implementation science and practice, there is no need to re-invent the wheel and create brand new ways of understanding power. Instead, we can borrow from other fields and apply them to ours. In fact, in our new course — Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power — we spent a lot of time reading books and papers outside of implementation science and practice and thinking about how these concepts would be relevant to each of the steps of multiple implementation process pathways. Our deep dive into the literature on power was also incredibly important when thinking about equity, and how power dynamics can create either equitable or inequitable conditions.
A revelation: Thinking about source and value as the root of power
Although there are multiple ways to deconstruct power, the common denominator across different methods of analyzing power is to understand source and value. This seems really intuitive, but was kind of an “aha!” moment when we started recognizing and applying this type of understanding to our reflections on power.
The key shift in thinking here is that power is not just something that some people hold – we all have power. Our power comes from different sources though. We are in positions of power, or feel powerful, when that source of power is valued by others, and can feel disempowered when that source no longer holds value. For example, if I have tons of knowledge on cryptocoin, and people are seeking that knowledge at this moment in time, it’s quite possible that I hold a lot of power. However, if people stop caring about crytocoin, or if I move to a community that doesn’t really know what it is or have any regard for it, I no longer have power. The source of power still remains, but the value for it changes, which changes how much power I hold.
This is why in implementation there are certain sources of power that have stood the test of time and remain valued sources of power. For example, we collectively place a lot of value on money, so people who give and hold funding tend to have power. The key here is that if we stop placing value on the source of power, we can limit how much power people wield.If we start placing value on other sources of power, people who typically feel disempowered can hold more power in the system.
Types of power: Power over, power with, power to, and power within
Another aspect of power that is common to different ways of thinking about power is type of power. Often when we're thinking about power, we think about "power over" because power is often conflated with dominance. Who do we have power over, and who has power over us? Often we think about this because this is the thing that impacts us the most in implementation. We always think about who can make decisions, who is keeping us from doing things, and who has the power to, for example, fund what we're doing or to give the green light to what we're doing.
There are other types of power that we can think about. For example, “power with” is the kind of power that we give each other when we're collaborating and lending each other our power in order to move forward together. This is a type of power that we can leverage in implementation work when we identify people, groups, or organization that have shared values and goals.
Next, we can consider “power to”. If someone in your organization has a lot of power, they can lend your power to others in order for them to be able to move forward to do their work. “Power to” is often key for implementation work if, for example, you need some external support and legitimacy to be able to do what you're doing.
Finally, there's "power within". “Power within” is about recognizing our own power and understanding the source of that power. We rarely do this, and yet it can be empowering to move into spaces and know the power you bring to that space.
Power mapping: Considering power dynamics in implementation
When you're thinking about how power in implementation works, it really helps to think about source, value, and type. In our course, Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power, we go through more dimensions of power to help you delve deeper into the nature of power. Another way of thinking about power dynamics is to do power mapping, which really helps you think about source and value.
This article was featured in our monthly Implementation in Action bulletin! Want to receive our next issue? Subscribe here.