The Architecture of Power
Influencing the systems that influence people
Power rarely appears where decisions are made. It flows through beliefs, institutions, and agendas long before anyone argues or votes. The Architecture of Power reveals how influence moves through social structures, shaping who leads, who follows, and what feels inevitable. Once you can see it, change becomes possible.
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About
About the Book
Why do unwanted outcomes keep returning even after people, policies, or priorities change? The Architecture of Power gives readers a practical way to see the arrangements that make such outcomes durable and to identify where they may be changed.
The book is written for professionals who carry responsibility without decisive formal authority: architects, engineers, product and project leaders, internal change agents, and others who must influence systems they cannot command.
The title expresses the book's central perspective: power has an architecture. Outcomes are shaped not only by individuals but by arrangements of people, institutions, beliefs, objects, and material resources. Whether deliberately designed or gradually formed, these arrangements contain recurring elements and relationships that can be examined, mapped, and redesigned.
Part I introduces the Power Loop, a model of how power arrangements reproduce outcomes, and the Power Canvas, a diagnostic tool for mapping them. Its three application modes (Landscape Mapping, Phenomenon Tracing, and Conflict Analysis) help readers diagnose an arrangement and, where useful, identify candidate points of structural intervention without treating diagnosis as an action plan.
Part II begins from that diagnosis. It presents dozens of tactics for reshaping power landscapes from different positions, accounting for the access and constraints associated with each position.
Disclaimer
This edition contains Part I only, following the “publish early, publish often” approach.
Part II is currently in progress and is scheduled for release in October or November 2026.
You’ll be notified automatically when the updated edition becomes available. All updates are included at no additional cost.
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Author
About the Author
Yevgen Nebesov is a systems architect based in Bruchsal, Germany. He works at the intersection of software architecture and organizational dynamics, bringing a political perspective into a traditionally technical discipline. His work focuses on how power operates in sociotechnical systems—through artifacts, structures, and processes rather than personalities. He writes and speaks about the architecture of power and how it can be understood and engaged.
Beyond his consultancy work, Yevgen is involved in non-profit initiatives that cultivate technical communities in his region, including the organization of IT meetups and tech conferences.
Contents
Table of Contents
About the Book
Preface
Chapter 0. Introduction
Chapter 1. What Is Power?
Chapter 2. Actants: How Things Carry Power
Chapter 3. The Power Loop
Chapter 4. Beliefs: Stabilized Meaning
Chapter 5. Institutions: Stabilized Behavior
Chapter 6. Agendas: Stabilized Attention
Chapter 7. Decisions: Stabilized Commitment
Chapter 8. Events: Stabilized Visibility
Chapter 9. Narratives: Stabilized Interpretation
Chapter 10. Mapping Power: The Power Canvas
Chapter 11. Landscape Mapping: The World of Luxury
Chapter 12. Phenomenon Tracing: The Kellers’ Recurring Evening Conflict
Chapter 13. Conflict Analysis: The School Street in the Car-First City
Part I Conclusion. Power Has an Architecture
Part II: Engaging Power
Chapter 14. From Map to Move
Chapter 15. Activation Tactics: Mobilizing Participation
Chapter 16. Event Tactics: Change What Becomes Recoverable
Chapter 17. Narrative Tactics: Change How Events Are Understood
Chapter 18. Agenda Tactics: Change Collective Attention
Chapter 19. Decision Tactics: Change the Field of Choice
Chapter 20. Belief Tactics: Change What Can Count
Chapter 21. Institution Tactics: Change What Repeats
Chapter 22. How Power Programs Work
Chapter 23. Common Power Programs
Chapter 24. After the Move
Part II Conclusion. What Remains
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