At Innovisor, we spend much time looking at networks—not the organizational charts or reporting lines, but the real human connections that drive change & connectivity inside organizations. The thing we always come back to: context matters. In fact, context is everything. It’s easy to assume that the people someone interacts with most frequently are also their closest collaborators, sounding boards, or go-to problem solvers. But the reality is rarely that simple.

When we run a change project with network insights, we never stop at just who connects with whom. We explore why people connect—because different objectives activate very different networks. 

• You might collaborate closely with one person because your work requires it. 

• You might turn to someone else entirely when you need to stretch your thinking or get a fresh perspective. 

• In cases where you have a complex or technical problem, you probably know exactly who to go to for help & advice. Or even just someone else for an energy boost. 

These are transformational networks. They are not the same as transactional networks that represent day-to-day emails and tasks.

With so much digital exhaust out there—email traffic, chat logs, meeting invites—it’s tempting to think we can “map” relationships based on the volume. But that’s not how real influence, trust, or collaboration works. 

The person you exchange the most emails with might just be your project manager. The person you grab coffee with when you’re stuck on a complex problem? That’s someone else entirely. And the colleague who sparks new ideas over lunch—they might barely show up in your inbox. That’s why, at Innovisor, we don’t buy into the idea that counting messages gives you the true picture. It shows digital activity, not impact.

One of the most interesting things we see in our projects is just how different these networks really are, even within the same organization or project. We measure the overlap between networks, for example those you collaborate with, those you spar with, those you go to for energy. On average? It’s just 15%. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes less. But that number says a lot. That’s why context matters. Without it, you risk misunderstanding how work really gets done—or where the people with influence are.

When we help clients uncover their informal networks, we always design the analysis around purpose and context: These are the insights that matter in transformations, because the right people, focused on the right actions determine change success.

In a world overloaded with data what still matters most is why people connect. When you understand the why, this context leads you to the how: how influence flows, how to move the change forward, and how to make the largest impact.