# A Footnote on Power in Organizations By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-04-27 Power is essential to organizational dynamics, yet it is frequently ignored or marginalized as a topic of focus. Such a treatment should immediately raise suspicion. When something important is omitted, there is a reason. In the case of power in organizations, there are likely at least two reasons that correspond to its yin-yang nature. Organizations contain a mix of coercive power and resistance. Those leading organizations would prefer to ignore both dynamics. Management frequently coerces employees. They exert direct or implied force to compel workers to do something those individuals would likely not do without coercion. This is power. Workers have the power to resist coercion directly or indirectly. At its most basic level, organizational power can be reduced to the power to do (or not do) and the power to say (or not say). What people do or say, or don’t do or not say, comes to define most organizational reality. This is a great deal of power. Usually, work is reduced to doing what one is told and not saying anything about it. Such construction makes management’s job easier. That construction seldom provides a rewarding experience for workers. Professionals want to be able to do what they think needs to be done and speak their minds about their work. When they can’t, it is a source of frustration. Improving morale at work is not about adding snacks for a fuzzball table; it is about addressing organizational power. Ignoring organizational power will result in the same dynamics of coercion and resistance playing out indefinitely. #### Related Items [[Power]] [[Organization]] [[Work]] [[Progress]] [[Coercion]] [[Management]]