Narrator: In the summer of 2014, a bizarre ritual swept across social media. Millions of people, from celebrities and CEOs to schoolchildren and grandparents, filmed themselves dumping buckets of ice water over their heads. It seemed like a fleeting, nonsensical trend. Yet, this viral phenomenon, the Ice Bucket Challenge, raised an astonishing $220 million for ALS research, fundamentally changing the trajectory of the fight against the disease. This wasn't a campaign orchestrated from a corporate boardroom or a government office. It was something different—a leaderless, participatory, and explosive surge of collective energy. How did this happen?

In their book, New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World--and How to Make It Work for You, authors Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms provide a crucial framework for understanding this new reality. They argue that the very nature of power has changed, and those who fail to understand this shift risk becoming irrelevant.

Narrator: The authors begin by drawing a fundamental distinction between two models of power. "Old power," they explain, works like a currency. It is held by a few, jealously guarded, and spent by powerful entities like corporations and governments. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. Think of it as a resource that is downloaded from the top.

"New power," in contrast, operates like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. Like water or electricity, it is most forceful when it surges. The goal of new power is not to hoard it, but to channel it.

This clash was vividly illustrated by the #MeToo movement. For decades, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein wielded immense old power. He controlled careers, finances, and narratives, allowing him to operate with impunity. His power was a currency he spent to maintain control and silence victims. But in 2017, a new power current began to surge. Sparked by investigative journalism and amplified by a simple hashtag started years earlier by activist Tarana Burke, #MeToo became a decentralized, ownerless movement. It wasn't directed by a single leader; it was channeled by millions of individuals sharing their stories. This new power current proved forceful enough to topple an old power titan, demonstrating that the ability to mobilize the many can overcome the hoarded influence of the few.

Narrator: In a new power world, ideas don't spread through top-down slogans; they spread sideways through peer communities. To engineer this virality, Heimans and Timms introduce the "ACE" framework. Ideas that spread are Actionable, Connected, and Extensible.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is the perfect case study. It was Actionable: it gave people a simple, clear task—dump ice water on your head or donate. It was Connected: it leveraged social networks by having participants nominate their friends, creating a chain reaction and a sense of shared experience. And it was Extensible: the core idea was simple, but people could easily adapt it, adding their own humor, creativity, or personal touch. A 102-year-old man did it in his boxer shorts; celebrities added elaborate production value. No one owned the brand, so everyone could make it their own. This ACE structure is what allowed the idea to become a global phenomenon, far beyond what any traditional marketing campaign could have achieved.

Narrator: In the old power world, influence was about managing stakeholders. In the new power world, it’s about building a crowd. The authors outline a five-step process for this, exemplified by the Australian activist organization GetUp.

First, they found their "connected connectors"—influential, like-minded individuals to seed the movement. Second, they built a new power brand that was about participation, not just admiration. Third, they lowered the barrier to entry, creating a simple online tool that allowed Australians to email their representatives with a single click. Fourth, they created a "participation scale," offering simple entry points but also pathways to deeper engagement.

Finally, they harnessed "the three storms." When the government attacked GetUp as "irresponsible spam," the organization didn't retreat; it embraced the storm, using the criticism to supercharge its credibility and membership. This contrasts sharply with what the authors call "WeWashing," seen in Pepsi's infamous Kendall Jenner ad. Pepsi tried to borrow the aesthetics of a social movement without any genuine commitment, and the crowd unified against them in ridicule. GetUp succeeded because it genuinely empowered its crowd, while Pepsi failed because it only pretended to.

Narrator: To help organizations understand their position in this new world, the authors created the New Power Compass, which plots organizations based on their model (new vs. old) and their values (new vs. old). This creates four archetypes:

• Castles: Old model, old values (e.g., a traditional military). * Cheerleaders: Old model, new values (e.g., a company that talks about collaboration but remains hierarchical). * Crowds: New model, new values (e.g., Wikipedia, Etsy). * Co-opters: New model, old values. This is a particularly important and often dangerous category.

Uber is presented as a classic Co-opter. It uses a new power model—a vast, decentralized network of drivers—but operates with old power values, concentrating power and profit at the top. This approach created constant tension with its drivers, regulators, and the public. This tension culminated in the #RedditRevolt of 2015, where the volunteer moderators (the super-participants) of the platform shut down major sections of the site to protest the company's lack of support. It was a stark reminder that new power platforms that exploit their communities without respecting them do so at their own peril.

Narrator: The most durable and effective organizations don't rely on one form of power alone; they master the art of blending them. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a formidable example. The NRA expertly channels new power by cultivating an intensely passionate and mobilized grassroots base. This was on display in the 2013 Colorado recall election, where local activists, empowered by the NRA, successfully removed two state senators who supported gun control, despite being massively outspent.

Simultaneously, the NRA wields old power with ruthless efficiency. When the Manchin-Toomey gun control bill was proposed after the Sandy Hook shooting, the NRA used its old power "scoring" system to grade politicians. The threat of a bad grade was enough to make senators abandon a bill that had widespread public support. The NRA's strength lies in its ability to dial up its new power grassroots army or its old power institutional muscle, depending on the situation.

Narrator: The book concludes by looking toward the future, warning against a world dominated by "participation farms"—platforms like Facebook that harvest the value of our participation for the benefit of a few owners. The authors argue for a "full-stack society," where people have meaningful opportunities to participate in and feel ownership over all aspects of their lives.

This requires building alternatives. Kickstarter, for instance, chose to become a Public Benefit Corporation, legally binding itself to prioritize social impact over pure profit. In Taiwan, digital minister Audrey Tang has pioneered new power governance. Using tools like Pol.is, she created a platform for citizens to debate policy and find consensus, transforming government from a distant "black box" into a transparent, participatory process. These examples show that it's possible to build systems that don't just ask for our clicks, but genuinely empower us, rebuilding trust by letting people get their hands on the institutions that shape their lives.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from New Power is that power is no longer a finite resource to be hoarded, but a dynamic force to be channeled. In the 21st century, the ability to mobilize the energy, passion, and creativity of the many is the most valuable asset an organization or leader can possess. Success is no longer about having the most power, but about being the best at activating it in others.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge. It forces us to critically examine the platforms and movements we engage with every day. Are they truly empowering us, giving us a real stake and a powerful voice? Or are we simply unpaid workers on a participation farm, generating value for someone else? The ultimate task, Heimans and Timms suggest, is to reinvent the very terms of our participation, demanding a world where we are not just users, but owners.