The Power of Pull – How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion

Citation

Parsons, A.L. (2011), "The Power of Pull – How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 240-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761111127671

The Power of Pull is organized into seven chapters plus an introduction and epilogue. The first chapter explains the diminishing power of push and the emergence of The Big Shift toward pull. The next three chapters elaborate on the three levels of pull (access, attract, and achieve), while the last three chapters focus on the domains in which pull applies (individual, institutional and societal). Woven through all of the chapters are the elements of the journey that each of us will follow to achieve pull (trajectory, leverage, and pace).

In the introduction we get a first glimpse of the pull framework and its three levels. The first level of the framework is access, and the key concept here is to try to gain access to people and resources when and where we need them. The second level of the framework is attract, with the primary idea being trying to improve the chances that you meet the right people and the sources you need. The third level of the framework is achieve, which elaborates on the need to use the resources found through the first two levels to improve performance.

Chapter 1, “The diminishing power of push,” provides a background of the origins of push and why it is failing. The authors do an effective job of explaining the old “push” way of doing business and living life. Push is the traditional top‐down way of thinking where those at the top dictate the way things are done. Pull, on the other hand, is driven upward from within the organization rather than driven down from its top. The concept of the Also introduced is the “Big Shift” concept, which involves a “fundamental reordering of the way we live, learn, socialize, play, and work” (p. 31). The authors suggest that we all must embrace the “Big Shift” or be left behind.

Chapter 2, “Access in an unpredictable world,” introduces the first level of the pull framework. The primary example in this chapter is the 2009 Iranian elections and the power of social media tools such as Twitter. The key lesson from this chapter is that access to people and resources can be powerful and that both individuals and organizations need to figure out how to make access more flexible and readily available.

Chapter 3, “Attracting what we need,” focuses on identifying the right people and resources to achieve goals. One interesting concept introduced here that seems easy enough to implement is the idea of serendipity and being open to chance encounters. The authors encourage people to go where other people who are passionate about the same things that they are can be found. This can mean attending conferences either physically or virtually or participating in online communities of people with similar interests. The authors discuss a related concept of spikes that explains why certain geographical areas are more likely to generate serendipitous encounters than others because similarly minded people tend to congregate in areas where they can find others like themselves.

Chapter 4, “Achieving our potential – the highest level of pull,” elaborates on the third and most challenging level of pull, achieve. The underlying concept behind this level seems to be creation. Individuals and organizations who are encouraged to create are more likely to experiment, which leads to innovation, and they are more likely to be passionate. People need to have access to creation spaces to connect with others. This concept seems ideal for smaller companies but could be challenging to implement for larger organizations.

Chapter 5, “The individual's path to pull,” emphasizes the power of the individual in the new pull framework. We as consumers have more choices and are impacting how companies do business from creating advertising to influencing which products are made. We as employees can voice our opinions and influence change within our organizations more quickly than ever. We can accomplish these things by pursuing and developing passions to gain leverage and increase the pace of innovation and change.

Chapter 6, “Pulling for the top of institutions,” focuses on the challenges of implementing the idea of pull at the institutional/organizational level. Most institutions are deeply embedded in the notion of push, and consequently switching to pull can be difficult. The authors believe, however, that it can be done if organizational leaders recognize that people need to develop their passions. Once they recognize this they then can implement policies and IT networks that both attract and retain the best talent.

Chapter 7, “Using pull to change the world,” goes beyond both the individual and the institution and provides insights on how implement pull on a much broader scale. The key here is shaping strategies. “Shaping strategies focus on reshaping broader markets, industries or social arenas rather than just an individual company”. These strategies incorporate all three levels of pull. The key to success of these strategies will be a large number of participants already in place and ready to be mobilized. But the actions can be small and still impact significant change.

And finally the Epilogue, reiterates that the Big Shift is happening and that while change is being driven by individuals, institutions need to change as well. Pull represents an opportunity for everyone but will only be successful if people work together to achieve their ultimate potential.

Throughout the book there are a variety of examples that include stories about individuals and organizations. The individual examples are probably the most helpful for the average reader. However, the book would be enhanced if it had even more examples, especially on a managerial/organizational level, because of the complexities of implementing organizational change.

At the end of most of the chapters there is a section titled “Bringing it home” that provides the reader with a series of though‐provoking questions about their own experiences. These questions encourage you to think outside the box and to figure out how to implement the topic discussed throughout the chapter. Some of the questions are simple but most are quite challenging and should stimulate deep, strategic thoughts.

This book would appeal to individuals who want to change their approach to life and their careers. Many of the ideas in this book require a simple change in attitude. In today's world of easy internet access and the growing power of social media the possibilities seem endless.

This book might also appeal to managers who are motivated to change the strategic direction of their organizations. However, these managers must be forward thinking enough to figure out how to implement the idea of pull as the recommendations at the organizational level are quite broad and leave much room for interpretation.