Today I’m going to talk about the relationship between Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.” and Information Flow.

Along the bottom axis, we have Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.”. Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.” is a social and personal phenomenon that can be thought of as “How more important does my boss feel than me? How much more authority do they have?”, and likewise, “How much more important do I seem than the people below me?”

Signs of a steep Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.” are things like physical separation, private offices, executive dining rooms, executive washrooms, parking spots, that kind of thing.

So, the rule is: Information Flow is inversely proportional to Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.”.

At a steep Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.”, those executives who wall themselves off are not getting a lot of information from the organization. At a shallow Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.”, the executive who sits out in the open space is getting a lot more.

So, when someone comes into your office and you’re sitting behind your desk, and you get up and walk around and sit next to them, so you’re both equal, you’re leveling the Power GradientThe amount of hierarchical social distance from one person to another. A proxy for power gradient could be pay scale, office size, equity, age, longevity, skill level, attractiveness, and carpet thickness. Information flows inversely to the steepness of the power gradient. Steep power gradients inhibit communications, variability of ideas, and creativity. In psychology, this is close to the term “social gradient.”. It’s going to make it easier for them to share their information.

I’m David Marquet, and that’s your Leadership Nudge.