McKinsey & Co - Tapping the power of hidden influencers (1 March 2014)

Summary

This blog by management consultancy McKinsey & Co looks at how to harness the power of people with informal influence to enact transformation within an organisation. It explores a tool known as 'snowball sampling', a simple survey technique originally used by social scientists to study hidden populations reluctant to participate in formal research, such as street gangs, drug users and sex workers. In snowball sampling, recipients take a very short survey and are asked to identify acquaintances who should also be asked to participate in the research. The process instils trust in participants as referrals are made anonymously by peers rather than through formal identification, and one contact quickly snowballs into many. The blog explores how snowball sampling can be adapted to better understand the patterns and networks of influence that operate below the radar in an organisation.