How to map power within a community
Launch library · evergreen read
Mapping power means identifying who actually influences decisions within a community, formally through office or role, and informally through trust, reputation or relationships, since both kinds of influence matter and neither is always visible from the outside looking in. Informal influence is often the harder of the two to spot.
This mapping helps organisers work efficiently, focusing early relationship building on people whose involvement will draw others in, rather than spreading effort thinly across a community without any sense of where its real influence actually sits and who holds it. Efficiency here is not cynicism, simply good use of limited time.
Power mapping is never final, since influence shifts as people move, retire or gain standing through their own actions, which means organisers need to revisit their understanding regularly rather than relying on a picture that was accurate only at the very start of the effort. An outdated map can quietly mislead an entire strategy.