The PowerShift® Story
AI Avatar Tom invites all Powershifters to join the grand self-organization and decentralization experiment underway
Recent long-form podcast where Thomas shares the past, present, and future of decentralization up through and including integrating blockchain and artificial intelligence
The Genesis of PowerShift®
The story of PowerShift® starts with Thomas Thomison's firsthand experience navigating the complexities of conventional organizations. After years of witnessing how traditional power structures often stifled potential and limited organizational effectiveness, Thomas found himself asking a pivotal question: What if power could be reimagined?
That curiosity led him to cross paths with Brian Robertson in 2006, and by 2007, they launched HolacracyOne, LLC, with the goal of exploring self-organization as a new frontier in leadership and governance. But that was just the beginning. In 2015, Thomas, alongside Christiane Seuhs-Schoeller and Peter Kessels, co-founded encode.org to push the boundaries of distributed authority even further—right to the edges of organizational life.
Architecting the PowerShift® Principles
The PowerShift® Principles were born out of these pivotal experiences, driven by a vision to free human potential by dismantling outdated power structures. Drawing on decades of entrepreneurial and spiritual exploration, Thomas, alongside a collective of thought leaders, created a fresh approach to how power can be understood and wielded. These core principles include:
- Distributed Authority: Empowering individuals to act within clear roles, without waiting for top-down approval.
- Purpose-Driven Action: Ensuring every action aligns with a higher purpose, evolving as needed.
- Radical Responsibility: Encouraging ownership, not just for decisions, but for their outcomes.
- Adaptive Governance: Building systems that grow and shift with the needs of the people and organizations they support.
Building the PowerShift® Ecosystem
But principles alone aren't enough. To truly transform how organizations function, Thomas recognized the need for real-world application. Thus, the PowerShift® Ecosystem came into being—a living, breathing network of enterprises, individuals, and communities committed to reshaping how we work, govern, and grow. Key components of this ecosystem include:
- powershift.io: The go-to hub for all things PowerShift®, offering resources, tools, and knowledge.
- encode.org: Focused on encoding new models of governance and organizational frameworks.
- powershift.capital: Exploring the future of value creation, beyond just dollars and cents.
- psjourneys.org: A space for immersive learning journeys and personal transformation.
Impact and Future Vision
From its inception, the PowerShift® movement has been about more than just ideas—it's about real impact. Whether in enterprises, communities, or individual lives, the PowerShift® Principles have sparked change by shifting how people understand and wield power. And as the movement continues to grow, so does Thomas's commitment to fostering a world where every person can fully express their uniqueness and make meaningful contributions.
This is just the beginning. PowerShift® is an ongoing journey, and you're invited to be a part of it.