Strategic execution is the biggest challenge facing organizations today. It accounts for 70% of failure in business strategy. See how network analysis and behavioral economic thinking can reveal a hidden world where change takes shape.
Love this article and how it explains that the flow of information within a business can be more valuable than the hierarchy of the business. One thing i’m curious about is how movement along the hierarchy of an organization might change the social capital of an employee like maya. Does she benefit more from staying in her current position than accepting a promotion where the hierarchical structure might move here further away from the teams that she has built these bridges with?
Great question, Jason! Influence inside an organization isn’t a single trait. It’s a mix of things like trust, credibility, access to information, and formal authority. One way to think about it is a bar chart. Each bar represents a different source of influence, and each rises or falls depending on the role someone holds, the network around them, and the culture they operate in.
When someone like Maya gets promoted, the bars don’t all move in the same direction. A new title may raise the authority bar and increase visibility. At the same time, it might lower the bar tied to access to informal information or day-to-day relationships if the role creates distance from the teams she’s currently connected to.
So the question isn’t whether a promotion is inherently good or bad. It’s how the shape of that influence profile will change, and whether those shifts strengthen or weaken her ability to create impact in this specific environment.
Love this article and how it explains that the flow of information within a business can be more valuable than the hierarchy of the business. One thing i’m curious about is how movement along the hierarchy of an organization might change the social capital of an employee like maya. Does she benefit more from staying in her current position than accepting a promotion where the hierarchical structure might move here further away from the teams that she has built these bridges with?
Great question, Jason! Influence inside an organization isn’t a single trait. It’s a mix of things like trust, credibility, access to information, and formal authority. One way to think about it is a bar chart. Each bar represents a different source of influence, and each rises or falls depending on the role someone holds, the network around them, and the culture they operate in.
When someone like Maya gets promoted, the bars don’t all move in the same direction. A new title may raise the authority bar and increase visibility. At the same time, it might lower the bar tied to access to informal information or day-to-day relationships if the role creates distance from the teams she’s currently connected to.
So the question isn’t whether a promotion is inherently good or bad. It’s how the shape of that influence profile will change, and whether those shifts strengthen or weaken her ability to create impact in this specific environment.