The Many Forms of Power: Crash Course Business - Soft Skills #16

In our second to last episode of Soft Skills, Evelyn talks to us about Power and how it's not always bad, not always good, and useful to understand. Enjoy!

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Sources:

Elias, S. (2008). Fifty years of influence in the workplace: The evolution of the French and Raven power taxonomy. Journal of Management History, 14(3), 267-283.

French, J. R., Raven, B., & Cartwright, D. (1959). The bases of social power. Classics of organization theory, 7, 311-320.

Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., Lee, C. A., Schneck, R. E., & Pennings, J. M. (1971). A strategic contingencies theory of intra-organizational power. Administrative science quarterly, 16.

Pfeffer, J. (2010). Power: Why some people have it--and others don't. New York, NY: HarperBusiness.

Pfeffer, J. (1992). Managing with power: Politics and influence in organizations. Harvard Business Press.

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Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[ShaneHummus]

Power is how you influence others. That's why keep yourself at check and do good and meaningful deeds to others.

[Galaxy_Dragon]

Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow - Varys GoT

[JoaoPedro-qpcw]

Hey crash course! I've been watching your videos for a long time, I recommend it to friends and they all love it too. We've made a list of some suggestions on possible future series for CC:

Geology
Writing Skills
Sustainable Development
Technology
Natural History (Eons collab!)
Robotics
Math
Anthropology
Artistic Skills
Art History
Physical Geography
Continent-focused History (like the Europe one)
Philosophy 2
Author, place or genre-focused Literature (Tolkien fan trying to sneak in a Crash Course Tolkien here)
Music
Linguistics
Sports
Social Skills
Mongols

We think that all of them would be very interesting subjects to tackle, hope our suggestions are good. Continue the amazing work!

[RangerRuby]

"With great power must come great responsibility." and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." are things that I think of every day and have on post-it notes above my desk. I think of George Washington and how he a) Refused the position of King and became president instead and b) refused to be president more than two terms, even though he was super popular and totally could've.

[Master_Therion]

I think power is a great thing, but it's very important to consider how it is obtained. For instance, wind and solar are great while coal and oil are not.

[ermytanio]

Peter: knowledge is pow....
Cercei: no no no no!.. Power is Power

[magakag]

Power, 1) Money, CEO
2) expertise, teacher
3) Force, Police ( Military )
5) Position or rank( pope or president)

[tichymusicrecords]

I'm doing International Economic Relations and I love your videos they are very helpful

[jaydedinnoo]

This vid will change my life.
Well done Evelyn👍

[AlexS-zvrf]

Evelyn!! This is crazy because I'm writing about the different forms of power and was just thinking yesterday, somebody should do a video on this and here you are! I'm a proud supporter of you and Say It Loud! This just made my day 😁

[nantukoprime]

Always be looking for a new job, as that is a kind of power you give yourself. You can always refuse an offer, but you won't know what's out there that could be better without looking. You may suddenly have the freedom to leave from what's coming in six months that is making the rounds in the rumor pool. If something happens that you have to quit right then or get let off, you might be months to most of a year into the interview process for that one company that takes a year to make a decision. Also, you start getting so used to the process that the stress of interviews and applications plummets.

You might find the perfect position and work somewhere long enough to get your gold watch. Applying to new jobs does not prevent that. Just keeping your options open.

[isamekailmahmud]

the music sounds a burst of energy always being mellowed down

[samranuppal]

I really love crash course, hopefully it will be free forever ❤❤💓

[medflix]

Good on CC for educating people about Unions

[BlairWaldorf]

THIS...is crucial. I am working as a high school counselor and currently moving toward purchasing a 3 flat.

Being able to have additional steady and reliable money coming in will allow you to move more fluidly. You won’t be beholden to an employer and in today’s society the employer definitely has the upper hand which is why so many millennials are frustrated.

Unions are all but obsolete and the special interest groups are making sure they stay low in numbers. If more people unionized things would be better in pay and working conditions but there are draw backs in perceived fairness.

Then again, in non-union companies you can still be screwed out of a promotion because the boss likes this or that person better than you even though your work is better than the other person.

I was HR for several years and I can say in 2019 you need to have something *YOU* can use to create money so you aren’t chained to a job literally.

Also, in America race is also a HUGE factor in power dynamics within the workplace. The additional dynamic of being non-white (and worst of all black) in a workplace throws a lot of this into an even harder situation.

[FF]

Great job Evelyn! I'm an old retired guy and you taught me some things I hadn't expected.

[JCResDoc]

There is only power. Power is life. The opposite of power is death.

[Interceptor]

I must admit I didn't quite grasp the difference between criticality (need) and centrality (impact). Based on how you described them (need for money / impact of not having money), and "improve" them (have extra funds saved up), they seem to be essentially the same thing. Can you elaborate?

[TheMemesofDestruction]

0:12 “With great power comes a greater responsibility.”

[Tonyx]

This may be the most important episode of CC that I have ever seen.