“Sense and respond”: How to harness the power of network leadership
- Organizations often fail because critical insights never reach the people who need them most.
- Two essential capacities are required to thrive in a rapidly changing world: sensing and responding.
- To optimize an organization’s response capability, leaders can use “network labs.”
In my work with leaders across various industries, I’ve experienced firsthand how organizations fail. This failure is not due to a lack of information. Failure occurs because critical insights never reach the people who need them most.
One particular moment from my professional journey stands out as a vivid example of this reality.
In 2006, I was in Espoo, Finland, at a conference center overlooking the bay near Nokia’s headquarters. More than 500 Nokia managers — many of the key figures in the company — had gathered to discuss the future of their mobile phone business. The rise of the internet was undeniable. The central question on everyone’s mind was how Nokia could integrate it into its market-leading products.
I had designed the session and was there to facilitate it. The room buzzed with energy. Nokia was at its peak. It had sold 348 million phones that year. Its global market share was climbing three percentage points from the previous year to 34.1%. The conversation wasn’t about whether Nokia would dominate the internet era, but how.
Over the course of four hours, ideas flowed freely. These ideas included, for instance, the novel (at the time) concept of integrating both GPS and Google Maps into Nokia’s devices.
During a break, one participant pulled me aside. He said something that has stayed with me ever since: “Nokia has lost its way.” He pointed to the company’s tagline — Connecting People. He continued: “That’s what we should be about, but we aren’t. Today’s discussions are all about add-ons and technology, not about truly connecting people.”
As the person responsible for capturing the outcomes of the session, I realized that this insight wasn’t being acknowledged. This was not because the insights weren’t being voiced, but because those organizing the session didn’t want to hear them. These individuals ensured that this message never reached the decision makers who could have acted upon it.
To this day, I wonder: What if that perspective had been given the attention it deserved? Perhaps it would have changed nothing. Or perhaps — just perhaps — it could have saved Nokia’s mobile phone business.
We all know how the story ends. In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone. Within a few short years, Nokia’s mobile phone division was a shadow of its former self.
What went wrong? The network science perspective
Nokia didn’t fail because of a lack of innovation, resources, or expertise. It failed because of the way information flowed — or, more accurately, how it didn’t flow — throughout the organization.
Network science has revealed how all complex systems, including organizations, are structured around networks. Simply put, organizations are networks.
Despite their complexity, networks are built from three fundamental components:
- Nodes: The actors in a network (in human networks, these are its people).
- Links: The connections between the nodes (such as conversations, emails, text messages, or meetings).
- Content: The information that moves through those connections (ideas, data, resources, or even emotions).
One of the most critical principles of networks is this: The easier information flows, the healthier, more adaptable, and more resilient an organization becomes.
However, every network has certain nodes that function as gatekeepers. These are individuals who control the flow of information. When gatekeepers act as fair brokers, they ensure that the right people get the right information at the right time. This adds tremendous value.
More often than not, however, gatekeepers become bottlenecks. Consciously or unconsciously, they block critical insights from reaching the decision makers who can act upon the information.
This is precisely what happened at Nokia. The company had all the sensing capabilities. It wasn’t that people within the organization didn’t feel that a shift in the market was imminent. Nevertheless, key gatekeepers “locked the gate” and, by doing so, prevented the flow of information. This resulted in leadership being unable to truly recognize the existential threat on the horizon, which was being sensed by their own people.
The unique savvy of “network leadership”
From a network perspective, organizations need two essential capacities to thrive in a rapidly changing world: sensing and responding.
Sensing is the ability to perceive and interpret signals from the environment — both internally and externally. In a networked organization, every node (i.e., every person) can contribute to this process. The broader the range of perspectives collected, the clearer and more accurate the organization’s understanding of its reality becomes.
Responding is the ability to take action based on incoming signals. No amount of insight matters if an organization lacks the agility to act or if gatekeepers block vital information from ever reaching those who can make a difference.
History is full of companies that sensed disruption but failed to act in time. Blockbuster, once the undisputed leader in video rentals, knew streaming video was the future. It had multiple opportunities to adapt but hesitated — until it was too late. Meanwhile, Netflix moved decisively and rewrote the rules of the game.
History is full of companies that sensed disruption but failed to act in time.
Recognizing the significance of information flows for organizations, leaders are implementing practices to enhance their organization’s ability to sense and respond. To enhance sensing capabilities, unique network-centric tools have been developed. These tools help leaders identify how information is flowing throughout the organization and where potential bottlenecks may be present.
To optimize responding capabilities, leaders are using “network labs” — processes that enable organizations to experiment with new ideas and approaches while minimizing investment and risk. The goal is to refine new approaches to topics such as talent management and cross-functional collaboration. Network labs provide key insights about how to effectively scale these initiatives across the entire organization.
The network leadership shift
The lesson is clear: Success isn’t just about having the right information. It’s about ensuring that information flows freely and that leadership is willing and prepared to act on this information.
In today’s complex, fast-moving world, leadership is about enabling networks. Leaders who understand the dynamics of networks won’t just survive disruption, they’ll be the drivers of successful and meaningful change.
