Build Your Team - Who To Know

Who To Know | Identifying Team Projects

The "Power Pyramid" is an organizing principle that can help quickly move your project from an idea to success.

Imagine a triangle. Sitting above the triangle is the person or agency with the power to approve or reject your project, to fund or not fund your project. This is usually the Mayor or a City Council.

At the top point of the triangle are the professional staffs of the planning department, department of transportation, or other agency. These people are hired to provide technical expertise and to implement projects.

On the right-hand point of the triangle is a citizen’s advisory committee or board, appointed by elected officials to represent the community on specific issues, to review proposals and to make recommendations.

In the left corner of the pyramid or triangle is your citizens group. Your role is to create a vision for your neighborhood or community and "sell" projects that will achieve that vision to the elected officials, professional staff and advisory boards on the other points of the triangle.

When any one of the three points of the Power Pyramid opposes an idea, the result is fairly clear. The idea is unlikely to succeed. It can happen, but the odds are very much against it. Why?

- Any City Council is hesitant to override citizen advisory boards or its own professional staff.
- An advisory board will hesitate before endorsing a proposal that didn’t pass muster with the citizens group or professionals.
- The professionals won’t endorse a project that conflicts with existing plans or that has controversial or radical new ideas
A similar breakdown occurs when any of the groups forming the Power Pyramid is bypassed or does not exist.

Resources

Click here for an example of the Power Pyramid at work on an actual project. | PDF 17KB

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