Social Network Analysis is Dangerous Knowledge

HP analyzed email data to trace the real lines of influence in the organization, as reported in this Natureasks: “will people risk getting laid off if their email usage patterns indicate they not as important as they think they are?”
No, people will risk getting laid off if their email patterns indicate that they are MORE important than the organization thinks they are.
Think about departments where the person who’s important on the real org chart is junior, or female, or the administrative assistant, or a nurse?
Even when an organization discovers the real org chart — the organization still might not be able to cope with the difference between what’s nominally going on and what’s really going on.
This is dangerous knowledge.

One thought on “Social Network Analysis is Dangerous Knowledge”

  1. You’re right: it is dangerous knowledge. What’s more, any enterprise software tools predicated on harnessing it will have to overcome this “stigma” first.

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