From Power to Process
In order to be effective, power needs to be harnessed
“In the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire for power after power, that ceaseth only in death.”
― Thomas Hobbes, 1651
Power can be intoxicating. There is an allure to being a captain of industry, a wise lawmaker (when such positions existed), a mover and shaker who can influence decisions and issue dictums.
Power without purpose is dangerous. Once obtained, it becomes difficult to give up and can be used and abused by the unscrupulous.1
To lead effectively is to share power with others. But that doesn’t happen in an unstructured way.
Think about your job for a minute. Or if you’re retired, the job you used to have.
You probably identify as part of a department or division. Marketing, human resources, accounting ― it’s safe to say that your identity is more closely tied to your function rather than the company as a whole.
This system of managing labor didn’t always exist. Let’s explore a history of how we got here and see how power structures directly affect the work we do.
Because power can sometimes obscure purpose, and following a smart process can help overcome that.
My own executive coaching work focuses on leaders who are stuck, aligning their teams with a shared plan and purpose through a repeatable process.
System First
“In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first.”
― Frederick Winslow Taylor, 1911
Organizational structures as we know them today haven’t always existed. As we moved from an agrarian to an industrial society, from the general store to specialty shops, humans discovered the need to organize more efficiently.
People like Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor were leaders in this space. Taylor’s groundbreaking book, The Principles of Scientific Management, outlined the need for a new structure in 1911.
Since the discovery of fire, humans have had this hubris that they can hew the forces of nature, harnessing or redirecting its power to their own needs and liking.
Taylor’s statement, coming at the height of the Industrial Age when man thought he had mastered the physical world, is consistent with such an arrogant view of natural power.
It was just a year later that the Titanic would sink after hitting an iceberg, following the prideful statement that “Even God himself could not sink her.”
Humility or Futility
“Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself.” — T.S. Eliot, 1927
Nature has a way of winning, despite humanity’s best attempts to steer it otherwise.
But the struggle for supreme power rages on, as ever.
Consider how this applies to companies.
Taylor reasoned that workers needed to perform their work in the most efficient ways. That led to specialized functions within companies, which then led to specific departments or divisions within companies that supported those specialized roles.
The evolution made sense.
You’ve heard of the phrase “form follows function”? It’s an architectural principle that the shape of a building should primarily relate to its intended function or purpose.
This is how company divisions were established: in support of the varied jobs that had been created as the Industrial Age allowed businesses to scale.
But with scale, we discovered an unintended consequence.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Matrixed Organizations
These divisions lived up to their name; that is, they created teams that were divided.
Manufacturing didn’t know what marketing was doing; accounting and communications were oblivious of each other; operations and research might only have sparse interactions.
The siloed nature of business led to breakdowns in communication.
You know what silos are good for? Storing things.
Silos: great for farms, but not so much for businesses.
From Silos to Sharing
When you have divisions that are siloed, information gets hoarded.
Indeed, before Alan Mulally arrived at Ford Motor Company in 2006, the company was famous for its silos. In fact, Henry Ford II was behind Detroit’s Renaissance Center (later the home of GM) which is a set of tubular skyscrapers — the complex is literally a set of silos.
At that time, Ford was renowned for its divisions’ notorious habit of hoarding knowledge. The reasoning was simple: knowledge is power. Starving colleagues of knowledge meant that you could get ahead.
To call this culture dangerous and toxic would be too gentle. The results were obvious: it doomed the business to mediocre performance at best, constantly tripping over its own shoelaces in a race to third place (or worse).
Alan Mulally’s solution? Not to change the structure, but to change the processes within the structure.
One Process
Every Thursday, executive management held a meeting called the BPR (business plan review), where transparency was not only encouraged, but required.
It led to executives volunteering to help each other out when they became aware of the challenges and progress their colleagues were facing. Everyone knew the plan and was skilled and motivated to help each other execute the plan.
It also meant that the BPR process cascaded to each executive’s team, mimicking that behavior at all levels of the organization.
Further, there were opportunities to create bridges of communication and planning sessions together. New teams and working groups were formed to address the issues that came to light in these BPR meetings at all levels.
So forget about who reports to whom, and what your team is doing to beat the other team within your company.
The way forward is to have an executable plan tied to a shared purpose or vision, shared through a repeatable process.
True leadership doesn’t revel in its own power; true leadership empowers others to make progress.
And that’s a powerful lesson.
There’s so much to learn,
P.S.
Stay tuned for the next installment on purpose, process, and people, when I look at the behaviors you may unknowingly display that can change how people think about you.
Tweet from J.G. Allen, August 10, 2025: “Federal takeover of DC isn’t about crime. Taking down Harvard isn’t about anti-semitism. Tariffs aren’t about reinvigorating U.S. manufacturing. Having big law pay hundreds of millions isn’t about legal fairness. Sacking the head of BLS isn’t about getting the numbers right. It’s all about power.” That’s it. https://x.com/j_g_allen/status/1955232793820016905
True leadership doesn’t revel in its own power; true leadership empowers others to make progress. Another timely to be sure