Power is an intangible concept. We can experience its impact, we can fear its force, and we can desire its protection, but in itself it is neutral. It is how we relate to its impact that makes us look out for it or run away from it.

Human beings constantly observe the power that surrounds them and search for ways to deal with it. Often it is by seeking ways to align with it or to resist it.

Consider the power that comes from being part of the majority. Or take the power that comes from being in the minority that can disrupt existing views in the majority or proposes an innovation that couldn’t be imagined by the majority.

Knowledge is another evident source of power. However, sometimes those who blissfully ignore it may find themselves free to think something that wasn’t available through common wisdom.

Contacts and networks are there to expand one’s influence and thus power, at the same time it is a way to share one’s power, not only the one that results from the network created. Sometimes it is carefully crafted to help expand one’s reach beyond whatever our origin allows us to reach out, sometimes it’s the other way around. Then the network is crafted to protect from external influences and limit one’s accessibility.

Convictions and emotions give us the power to act or to care for ourselves. They are enablers in a situation of ambiguity and uncertainty. However, both can also prevent us from acting whenever they mean that the power they inhabit is projected onto others.

Something common to all powers is that they originate within some kind of limitation. Without the given limitation there is no power. It results from something that is only accessible to those within its perimeter or outside of its perimeter. And it impacts those on the other side of the perimeter.

This also means, that the given power only is accessible from within its context. Its use will fail elsewhere.