What is How organizational power distributes vs. the org chart — and why should I care?
The org chart tells you who has authority. It does not tell you who has influence. These are different things and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes consultants and executives make when entering a new organization. Real power in any institution distributes through informal networks — who trusts whom, who has the ear of the decision maker, who controls the information flow. The org chart is the official version. What you actually need to navigate is the unofficial one.
How is it really applicable in real life?
This model is relevant any time you join a new organization, begin a new engagement, or need to drive change through people you do not directly control. It applies equally to consultants, new executives, project managers, and anyone trying to get something done in an environment they did not build.
How does it actually work?
- 1Map the formal structure first — not to use it, but to know where the informal structure deviates from it.
- 2Identify the connectors: people who are referenced by multiple others, who get CC'd on everything, whose approval others seek even when not required.
- 3Look for who the formal leaders defer to in meetings. The person a director checks with before deciding is worth understanding regardless of their title.
- 4Pay attention to who controls information flow — the person who decides what the CEO hears is not always the COO.
- 5Identify the institutional memory holders: people who have been in the organization long enough to know why things are the way they are. Their context is irreplaceable.
- 6Map the informal veto holders — people who cannot approve decisions but whose opposition reliably kills them. You need these people on your side.
- 7Revisit your power map every 30 days. Organizations shift, relationships shift, and what was true in month one may not be true in month three.
Visual diagram coming soon.
Show me a real example
A change management consultant is brought in to drive adoption of a new procurement system. The formal sponsor is the CFO. But in every meeting, the CFO defers to the Head of Procurement Operations — a role two levels below on the chart — before agreeing to anything. The consultant stops scheduling CFO briefings and starts investing in the Head of Procurement Operations instead. Within three weeks, resistance from the procurement team drops noticeably. The org chart said nothing about where that decision actually lived.