If modern business organizations understood those two principals of “Power and Force” the potential of American industry could again be unleashed for our benefit. In many instances people confuse and intertwine Power with Force. Power and Force may seem similar, but are in fact completely different in how they are generated and applied. There can be no force if a person has no power. If a person has power, but choose not to use it, then they are not going to be effective.
People who head organizations have “Power” based on their positions within an organization - direct power; or, by people wanting to follow and be led by an individual – indirect power. The higher up you go the more power you have. Simply stated, the greater authority the greater the power. Power can then be broken down into hard or soft power. With hard power you make commands and edicts based on your power and authority to reward or punish. With soft power other techniques, sometimes call coercion, are utilized to get a specific task completed. As an individual moves up in an organization and receives more power they must learn restraint. Unloading a lot of power at once only leads to destruction. The careful application of power is a technique that must be mastered through understanding of the principals of force.
Force requires action; greater the action the greater the force applied. With enough force, a large round piece of wood and be shoved through a small square hole. Force is broken down into positive and negative force, with the effect graded by the amount of destruction caused by its application to any given situation. For example, a middle manager may hate all of his subordinates and want them all gone, but does not have the power to make the decision; therefore, he has no force to use. A CEO of a company has the power to hire and fire people. He or she may fire and individual or the staffs of an entire business unit, depending on the amount of force he or she cares to use. Likewise, the CEO may use targeted power and force and fire the middle manager, thus relieving the subordinates of a potential tyrant who wanted more power.
It has been said that power corrupts absolutely. This is only true for people who are not disciplined with their power. Someone may have a lot of corrupt power, but if they do not unleash the force of it then it has no impact. Likewise, a powerful person who is benevolent can still inadvertently unleash a plethora of untamed force and harm an entire workforce.
So, which is more dangerous, power or force? Power is more dangerous. Power is the stored accumulation of energy that gets turned into force. The amount of destruction to a workforce is measured by the force applied, but may only be a pittance to the amount of power that could have been unleashed. Therefore, business schools need to develop curriculum that teach and describe how to gain power in one semester. How to force is used for good and bad the next semester. In the last semester utilize a capstone class to test to see if a person can build power and use the potential force correctly.
As people apply power to develop American industries, it must be understood the force from such action will have an impact on other countries and their industrial complexes. Power and Force can not exist without each other. They can be used to ones benefit, but someone else will see their application as destructive. It is always better to be on the positive effects rather than suffer the negative effects. Machiavelli and Sun Tzu understood the principals and how to correctly apply them centuries ago.
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