The Power of TED

I came across David Emerald's book The Power of TED when I was doing research for a post about the Karpman drama triangle. In this post I'm hoping to write some of my thoughts about the book in order to help you figure out if you want to pick up the book for yourself or not.

Let's start with a brief introduction to the Karpman drama triangle. In Karpman drama triangle, people in conflict take the roles of victims, persecutors, and rescuers in order to deal with tension. A victim sees themselves as a victim of circumstance or being oppressed by the persecutor. A persecutor sees the victim as a problem and therefore blames and criticizes them. A rescuer validates the victim's stance by trying to fix the situation for them. Again, here is a link to my post about the drama triangle if you want to learn more.

The Power of TED helps you transcend the drama triangle and enter the empowerment dynamic (TED). In TED, victims become creators who focus on outcomes instead of problems, persecutors become challengers who fuel creators, and rescuers become coaches who support creators in pursuing their envisioned outcomes instead of taking responsibility for the outcomes.

This is the core of the book. It's not a lot for content. But that's not really a problem since the book has very little filler text. The paperback version of The Power of TED is only 150 pages. The book is also written in fiction form which probably makes it an even faster read for many of us.

Here is why I enjoy Emerald's writing: I can see parts of myself and others in the stories of the book's characters. I'm able to identify victimhood I've experienced in the past and through TED tell better versions of those stories to myself. I feel better equipped to take the role of a coach instead of a rescuer when people come to me with their problems. And perhaps most importantly, I had to face the fact that in some past and current situations I am probably the persecutor to others.

It can be useful to look at your situation through the lens of the drama triangle because it allows you to structure your thinking when emotions run high. It's so easy for us to end up thinking in circles in moments of stress and anxiety. Having vocabulary for your feelings and the feelings of others can help you navigate through conflict instead of drowning in it.

The Power of TED is all about the tension in our personal and professional lives that direct us to destructive patterns of thinking and behavior. Has it been a while since you asked yourself what you want instead of what you don't want? Is it easy for some people to get defensive around you when you try to argue your point? Do you ever think it's your responsibility to fix a situation for someone? These are just some of the questions Emerald makes us ask ourselves in order to help us make sense of our interactions with the world and the internal and external conflict we experience with others.

Here are some possible reasons for criticsm: I have friends who steer away from books that don't come with citations and validated research sources. I can say that I have absolutely no idea how much of Emerald's writing is based on psychological research but I'm also not really worried about that. Consider The Power of TED as a tool for meditation and self-reflection, not as science.

In addition, the book is not heavy with spirituality but it also doesn't shy away from it. That might be an issue for you.

And yeah, The Power of TED is not officially business literature but I read it as such and I don't see a reason why you can't do it too. As a business book, The Power of TED is written for organizations made out of people with souls.