Developed by Jacob L. Moreno (Who Shall Survive?, 1934) and carried into organizations by David Krackhardt and Jeffrey R. Hanson (Informal Networks: The Company Behind the Chart, 1993) and by Rob Cross and Andrew Parker (The Hidden Power of Social Networks, 2004).
Draws people as points and influence as arrows, then reads the picture for the hubs, brokers, and outliers who actually move opinion on a given question.
When to reach for it
Decisions travel along paths the org chart does not show, and the case has to reach the people who shape the deciding vote.
How it runs
- Pick one question; influence differs from topic to topic.
- List everyone involved, regardless of title.
- Draw an arrow wherever one person shapes another's view.
- Weight each arrow weak, moderate, or strong.
- Mark the hubs, the brokers between clusters, and the isolates.
- Trace the shortest credible route to the people who decide.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Who Shall Survive?, 1934
- Informal Networks: The Company Behind the Chart, Harvard Business Review, 1993
- The Hidden Power of Social Networks, 2004