Power & Structure

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Power and structure are another pair of intrinsically related ideas. Powerful writing has structure, and well structured writing usually has power. And if you’re living in a democracy you need to have a structure to your ideas and communications to achieve power.

Of course outside the democratic world communication is less important and coercion is the name of the game. As Nixon famously once observed, “When you’ve got them by their balls, their hearts and minds will surely follow.” But in totalitarian systems, you don’t get very credible communication but you do get robust structures. Usually military and secret service ones.

The point is that sooner or later structure connects with power. Either in the communications democracy approach or in the secret service and coercive one. Most corporations use a little of both.