Control vs Power
To control is to regulate. To check accounts and use authority to manage.
To control implies the accumulation of some form of knowledge that can be used to create the authority. In this process there is an immediate and implied knowledge asymmetry. “I have the knowledge accumulation, and I can use that to manipulate in order to control the outcome.”
If our interior world is chaotic, we might seek to control the exterior world through imposition of a knowledge asymmetry. If the exterior world is chaotic, we might try to control our interior through setting up almost impossible-to-be-met perfection.
Consider what you might want to control and why.
We might seek to control inanimate objects such as machines and technology.
The moment we seek to control life…humans… we are imposing our will, our knowledge accumulation..on another, removing in the process their sovereign choice.
(Unless we have a control/permission agreement in place, which is rare, but entirely possible.)
Power is the ability to act. To be able. It has inherent within its movement. Control has containment.
Control is structure, power is trajectory.
‘Power over’ is a sense that we can control others. Ultimately, as we develop as humans, we find that it is never true. People might appear to have power over our exterior world, but the only way they have power over our interiors is if we say so.
We always have choice as to how we can respond. We can be the victim or choose to reframe the situation and stand tall in our sovereign choice to respond with dignity.
Understanding the distinction between power and control is a critical element in enterprise design. Who has control, who has power? What is power, what is control? What is your relationship to both, and the edge you need to develop? Where are you in your power, and where do you capitulate power to another?
In a Syntropic Enterprise, these conversations towards a world with a future are essential.
August 22nd 2019
Photo taken August 22nd, 2019
