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So this is Anna Hazare,

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and Anna Hazare may well be
the most cutting-edge

3
00:00:07,677 --> 00:00:10,914
digital activist in the world today.

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00:00:10,914 --> 00:00:12,452
And you wouldn't know it by looking at him.

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Hazare is a 77-year-old Indian 
anticorruption and social justice activist.

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And in 2011, he was running a big campaign

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to address everyday corruption in India,

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a topic that Indian elites love to ignore.

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So as part of this campaign,

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he was using all of the traditional tactics

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that a good Gandhian organizer would use.

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So he was on a hunger strike,

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and Hazare realized through his hunger

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that actually maybe this time,

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in the 21st century,

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a hunger strike wouldn't be enough.

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So he started playing around 
with mobile activism.

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So the first thing he did 
is he said to people,

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"Okay, why don't you send me

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a text message if you support

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my campaign against corruption?"

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So he does this, he 
gives people a short code,

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and about 80,000 people do it.

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Okay, that's pretty respectable.

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But then he decides,

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"Let me tweak my tactics a little bit."

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He says, "Why don't you leave
me a missed call?"

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Now, for those of you who have
lived in the global South,

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you'll know that missed calls

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are a really critical part
of global mobile culture.

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I see people nodding.

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People leave missed calls all the time:

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If you're running late for a meeting

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and you just want to let them
know that you're on the way,

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you leave them a missed call.

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If you're dating someone and 
you just want to say "I miss you"

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you leave them a missed call.

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So a note for a dating tip here,

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in some cultures,

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if you want to please your lover,

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you call them and hang up.
(Laughter)

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So why do people leave missed calls?

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Well, the reason of course is that

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they're trying to avoid charges

45
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associated with making calls
and sending texts.

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So when Hazare asked people 
to leave him a missed call,

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let's have a little guess how 
many people actually did this?

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Thirty-five million.

49
00:02:03,415 --> 00:02:07,458
So this is one of the largest coordinated
actions in human history.

50
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It's remarkable.

51
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And this reflects the extraordinary strength 
of the emerging Indian middle class

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and the power that their
mobile phones bring.

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But he used that,

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Hazare ended up with this massive 
CSV file of mobile phone numbers,

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and he used that to deploy

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real people power on the ground

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to get hundreds of thousands of
people out on the streets in Delhi

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to make a national point of 
everyday corruption in India.

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It's a really striking story.

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So this is me when I was 12 years old.

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I hope you see the resemblance.

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And I was also an activist,

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and I have been an activist all my life.

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I had this really funny childhood

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where I traipsed around the world

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meeting world leaders and 
Noble prize winners,

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talking about Third World debt,

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as it was then called,

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and demilitarization.

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I was a very, very serious child.
(Laughter)

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And back then,

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in the early '90s,

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I had very cutting-edge
tech tool of my own:

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the fax.

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And the fax was the 
tool of my activism.

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And at that time, it was the best way

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to get a message to a lot of people

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all at once.

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I'll give you one example of a fax
campaign that I ran.

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It was the eve of the Gulf War

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and I organized a global campaign 
to flood the hotel,

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the Intercontinental in Geneva,

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where James Baker and Tariq Aziz

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were meeting on the eve of the war,

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and I thought if I could 
flood them with faxes,

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we'll stop the war.

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Well, unsurprisingly,

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that campaign was wholly unsuccessful.

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There are lots of reasons for that,

90
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but there's no doubt that 
one sputtering fax machine

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in Geneva was a little bit
of a bandwidth constraint

92
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in terms of the ability to 
get a message to lots of people.

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And so, I went on to 
discover some better tools.

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I cofounded Avaaz, that uses the 
Internet to mobilize people

95
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and now has almost 
40 million members,

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and I now run Purpose, which 
is a home for these kinds of

97
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technology-powered movements.

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So what's the moral of this story?

99
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Is the moral of this story,


100
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you know what, the fax is kind of
eclipsed by the mobile phone?

101
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This is another story of 
tech-determinism?

102
00:04:14,935 --> 00:04:18,125
Well, I would argue that there's 
actually more to it than that.

103
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I'd argue that in the last 20 years,

104
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something more fundamental has changed


105
00:04:23,036 --> 00:04:24,741
than just new tech.

106
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I would argue that there has
been a fundamental shift

107
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in the balance of power

108
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in the world.

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You ask any activist how 
to understand the world,

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and they'll say,
"Look at where the power is,

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who has it, how it's shifting."

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And I think we all sense that 
something big is happening.

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So Henry Timms and I —

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Henry's a fellow movement builder —

115
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got talking one day and 
we started to think,

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how can we make sense of this new world?

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How can we describe it and give

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it a framework that makes it more useful?

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Because we realized that many

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of the lessons that we were
discovering in movements

121
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actually applied all over the world

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in many sectors of our society.

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So I want to introduce you to
this framework:

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Old power, meet new power.

125
00:05:05,876 --> 00:05:09,307
And I want to talk to you about
what new power is today.

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New power is the deployment

127
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of mass participation 
and peer coordination —

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these are the two key elements —

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to create change and shift outcomes.

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And we see new power all around us.

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This is Beppe Grillo

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he was a populist Italian blogger

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who, with a minimal political apparatus
and only some online tools,

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won more than 25 percent of the vote

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00:05:31,034 --> 00:05:33,455
in recent Italian elections.

136
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This is Airbnb,

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which in just a few years

138
00:05:36,566 --> 00:05:38,728
has radically disrupted the hotel industry

139
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without owning a single
square foot of real estate.

140
00:05:41,646 --> 00:05:43,421
This is Kickstarter,

141
00:05:43,421 --> 00:05:45,898
which we know has raised over a billion dollars

142
00:05:45,898 --> 00:05:48,319
from more than five million people.

143
00:05:48,319 --> 00:05:50,529
Now, we're familiar with all of these models.

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But what's striking is the commonalities,

145
00:05:53,450 --> 00:05:55,576
the structural features of 
these new models

146
00:05:55,576 --> 00:05:57,725
and how they differ from old power.

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Let's look a little bit at this.

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Old power is held like a currency.

149
00:06:02,552 --> 00:06:04,921
New power works like a current.

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00:06:04,921 --> 00:06:07,033
Old power is held by a few.

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00:06:07,033 --> 00:06:10,473
New power isn't held by a few,
it's made by many.

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Old power is all about download,

153
00:06:12,980 --> 00:06:14,706
and new power uploads.

154
00:06:14,706 --> 00:06:17,240
And you see a whole set of 
characteristics that you can trace,

155
00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,356
whether it's in media or 
politics or education.

156
00:06:20,356 --> 00:06:22,422
So we've talked a little bit 
about what new power is.

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Let's, for a second, talk about 
what new power isn't.

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New power is not your Facebook page.

159
00:06:29,383 --> 00:06:32,208
I assure you that having a 
social media strategy

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00:06:32,208 --> 00:06:34,756
can enable you to do just as much download

161
00:06:34,756 --> 00:06:37,818
as you used to do when you had the radio.

162
00:06:37,818 --> 00:06:41,146
Just ask Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,

163
00:06:41,146 --> 00:06:42,888
I assure you that his Facebook page

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00:06:42,888 --> 00:06:47,245
has not embraced the power
of participation.

165
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New power is not inherently positive.

166
00:06:50,413 --> 00:06:52,702
In fact, this isn't an normative
argument that we're making,

167
00:06:52,702 --> 00:06:54,514
there are many good things 
about new power,

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but it can produce bad outcomes.

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More participation, more peer coordination,

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00:06:58,336 --> 00:07:00,393
sometimes distorts outcomes

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and there are some things,

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like things, for example, 
in the medical profession

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that we want new power 
to get nowhere near.

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And thirdly, new power is not
the inevitable victor.

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In fact, unsurprisingly,

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00:07:11,175 --> 00:07:13,864
as many of these new power
models get to scale,

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what you see is this massive push-back

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from the forces of old power.

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Just look at this really 
interesting epic struggle

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going on right now between 
Edward Snowden and the NSA.

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You'll note that only that


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only one of the two people on this slide

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00:07:27,319 --> 00:07:29,238
is currently in exile.

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00:07:29,238 --> 00:07:30,843
And so, it's not at all clear

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that new power will be 
the inevitable victor.

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00:07:32,893 --> 00:07:35,686
That said, keep one thing in mind:


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We're at the beginning of a
very steep curve.

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So you think about some of 
these new power models, right?

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These were just like someone's

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00:07:42,328 --> 00:07:44,874
garage idea a few years ago,

191
00:07:44,874 --> 00:07:48,010
and now they're disrupting 
entire industries.

192
00:07:48,010 --> 00:07:50,679
And so, what's interesting
about new power,

193
00:07:50,679 --> 00:07:52,695
is the way it feeds
on itself.

194
00:07:52,695 --> 00:07:54,719
Once you have an experience of new power,

195
00:07:54,719 --> 00:07:56,909
you tend to expect and 
want more of it.

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00:07:56,909 --> 00:07:59,789
So let's say you've used a
peer-to-peer lending platform

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00:07:59,789 --> 00:08:02,323
like Lending Tree or Prosper,

198
00:08:02,323 --> 00:08:04,607
then you've figured out that
you don't need the bank,

199
00:08:04,607 --> 00:08:06,544
and who wants the bank, right?

200
00:08:06,544 --> 00:08:08,982
And so, that experience tends 
to embolden you

201
00:08:08,982 --> 00:08:11,919
it tends to make you want
more participation

202
00:08:11,919 --> 00:08:14,444
across more aspects of your life.

203
00:08:14,444 --> 00:08:15,809
And what this gives rise to is

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00:08:15,809 --> 00:08:17,640
a set of values.

205
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,100
We talked about the models

206
00:08:19,100 --> 00:08:20,284
that new power has engendered,

207
00:08:20,284 --> 00:08:22,116
the Airbnbs, the Kickstarters,

208
00:08:22,116 --> 00:08:23,645
what about the values?


209
00:08:23,645 --> 00:08:25,315
And this is an early sketch

210
00:08:25,315 --> 00:08:27,878
at what new power values look like.

211
00:08:27,878 --> 00:08:31,339
New power values prize
transparency above all else.

212
00:08:31,339 --> 00:08:33,231
It's almost a religious belief
in transparency, a belief

213
00:08:33,231 --> 00:08:35,915
that if you shine a light on something,

214
00:08:35,915 --> 00:08:37,036
it will be better.

215
00:08:37,036 --> 00:08:38,386
And remember that in the 20th-century,

216
00:08:38,386 --> 00:08:39,849
this was not at all true.

217
00:08:39,849 --> 00:08:42,643
People thought that gentlemen
should sit behind closed doors

218
00:08:42,643 --> 00:08:44,925
and make comfortable agreements.

219
00:08:44,925 --> 00:08:48,330
New power values informal,
networked governance.

220
00:08:48,330 --> 00:08:51,464
New power folks would have
invented the UN today,

221
00:08:51,464 --> 00:08:52,807
for better or worse.

222
00:08:52,807 --> 00:08:55,042
New power values participation,

223
00:08:55,042 --> 00:08:56,085
and new power is all about

224
00:08:56,085 --> 00:08:57,587
"do it yourself."

225
00:08:57,587 --> 00:08:58,966
In fact, what's interesting 
about new power

226
00:08:58,966 --> 00:09:02,519
is that it eschews some of 
the professionalization

227
00:09:02,519 --> 00:09:03,994
and specialization that was

228
00:09:03,994 --> 00:09:06,474
all the rage in the 20th-century.

229
00:09:06,474 --> 00:09:08,194
So what's interesting about these

230
00:09:08,194 --> 00:09:10,160
new power values and these
new power models

231
00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,675
is what they mean for organizations.

232
00:09:12,675 --> 00:09:14,503
So we've spent a bit of time thinking

233
00:09:14,503 --> 00:09:17,749
"how can we plot organizations

234
00:09:17,749 --> 00:09:19,873
on a 2x2 where, essentially

235
00:09:19,873 --> 00:09:21,549
we look at new power values

236
00:09:21,549 --> 00:09:22,813
and new power models

237
00:09:22,813 --> 00:09:24,614
and see where different people sit?"

238
00:09:24,614 --> 00:09:26,723
We started with a U.S. analysis,

239
00:09:26,723 --> 00:09:28,029
and let me show you some

240
00:09:28,029 --> 00:09:29,336
interesting findings.

241
00:09:29,336 --> 00:09:31,138
So the first is Apple.

242
00:09:31,138 --> 00:09:33,393
In this framework, we actually
described Apple

243
00:09:33,393 --> 00:09:35,735
as an old power company.

244
00:09:35,735 --> 00:09:37,839
That's because the ideology,

245
00:09:37,839 --> 00:09:39,457
the governing ideology of Apple

246
00:09:39,457 --> 00:09:42,331
is the ideology of the perfectionist

247
00:09:42,331 --> 00:09:44,355
product designer in Cupertino.

248
00:09:44,355 --> 00:09:48,597
It's absolutely about that beautiful,
perfect thing descending upon us,

249
00:09:48,597 --> 00:09:49,778
in perfection.

250
00:09:49,778 --> 00:09:52,661
And it does not value, as a 
company, transparency.

251
00:09:52,661 --> 00:09:54,344
In fact, it's very secretive.

252
00:09:54,344 --> 00:09:56,170
Now, Apple is one of the most
succesful companies

253
00:09:56,170 --> 00:09:57,075
in the world.

254
00:09:57,075 --> 00:09:58,262
So this shows that you can


255
00:09:58,262 --> 00:10:01,261
still pursue a successful old power strategy.

256
00:10:01,261 --> 00:10:04,921
But one can argue that there's 
real vulnerabilites in that model.

257
00:10:04,921 --> 00:10:06,295
I think another interesting comparison

258
00:10:06,295 --> 00:10:08,382
is that of the Obama campaign

259
00:10:08,382 --> 00:10:11,518
versus the Obama presidency.

260
00:10:11,518 --> 00:10:19,350
(Applause)

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Now I like President Obama,

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he ran with new power
at his back, right?

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And he said to people,


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"we are the ones we've
been waiting for."

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And he used crowdfunding

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to power a campaign.

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But when he got into office,

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he governed like,

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more or less,

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all the other presidents did.

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And this is a really interesting trend,

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as when new power gets powerful,

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what happens?


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So this is a framework you 
should look at

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and think about where your
own organization

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sits on it.

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And think about where it
should be 


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in five or 10 years.

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So what do you do if you're old power?

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If you're there thinking,

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in old power,

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"this won't happen to us."

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Then just look at the Wikipedia
entry for Encyclopedia Britannica.

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Let me tell you,

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it's a very sad read.

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But if you are old power,

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the most important thing

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you can do is to occupy yourself

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before others occupy you,

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before you are occupied.

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Imagine that a group
of your biggest skeptics

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are camped in the heart
of your organization

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asking the toughest questions

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and they can see everything
inside of your organization.

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And ask them, "would they 
like what they see

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and should our model change?"

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What about if you're new power?


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Is new power kind of just 
riding the wave to glory?

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I would argue no.

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I would argue that there
are some very real challenges

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to new power in this nascent phase.

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Let's stick with the Occupy Wall Street
example for a moment.

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Occupy was this incredible example 
of new power,

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the purest example of new power.

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And yet, it failed to consolidate.

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So they energy that it created

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was great for the mean phase,

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but they were so committed to participation,

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that they never got anything done.

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And in fact that model

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means that the challenge for new power is:

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how do you use institutional power

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without being institutionalized?


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One the other end of the spectra

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is Uber.

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Uber is an amazging,

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highly scalable new power model.

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That network is getting denser and denser

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by the day.

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But what's really interesting 
about Uber is

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it hasn't really adopted new power values.

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This is a real quote from 
the Uber CEO recently:

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He says, "Once we get rid of the 
dude in the car," He means drivers,

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"Über will be cheaper."

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Now, new power models
live and die

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by the strength of their networks.

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By whether the drivers and the consumers


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who use the service actually believe in it.

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Because they're not an exercise 
of top-down perfectionism,

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they are about the network.

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And so, the challenge,

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and this is why it's in
no way surprising,

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that now Uber's drivers 
are now unionizing.

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It's extraordinary.

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Uber's drivers are turning on Uber.

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And the challenge for Uber,

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this isn't an easy situation for them,

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is that they are locked into
a broder super-strcuture

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that is really old power.

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They've raised more than a billion 
dollars in the capital markets.

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Those markets expect a financial return,

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and they way you get a financial return

343
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is by squeezing and squeezing

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your users and your drivers

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for more and more value

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and giving that value to your investors.

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So the big question

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about the future of new power

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in my view is:

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Will that old power just emerge?


351
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So will new power elites just become

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old power and squeeze?

353
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Or will that new power
base bite back?

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Will the next big Uber

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be co-owned by Uber drivers?

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And I think this going to be a very interesting

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structural question.

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Finally, think about new power

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being more than just an

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entity that scales things 


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that make us have slightly 
better consumer experiences.

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My call to action for new power

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is to not be an island.

364
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We have major structural
problems in the world today,

365
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that could benefit enormously

366
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from the kinds of mass participation

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and peer coordination

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that these new power players

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know so well how to generate.

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And we badly need them to 
turn their energies and their power

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to big, what economists might call,

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public goods problems,

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that are often beyond markets

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where investors can easily be found.

375
00:14:26,882 --> 00:14:28,482
And I think if we can do that,

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we might be able to fundamentally change

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not only human being's
sense of their own agency and power,

378
00:14:35,138 --> 00:14:37,896
because I think that's the most
wonderful thing about new power,

379
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is that people feel more powerful,

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but we might also be able to change

381
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the way we relate to each other

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and the way we relate to 
authority and institutions.

383
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And to me, that's absolutely

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worth trying for.

385
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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)