The power of hidden connections
Exploiting the underlying background
In the world of collaboration, innovation, and complex systems, we tend to focus on what’s visible: roles, teams, deliverables, timelines.
But often, the real power lies just beneath the surface, in the background connections that shape everything.
Take Andy Warhol’s iconic pop-art portrait of Marilyn Monroe.
At first glance, you see the face. Bright, bold, and unmistakable.
But it’s the vibrant backgrounds, shifting from neon pink to electric blue, that give each version a different mood, tone, and resonance.
The background isn’t just decoration. It’s part of the meaning.
Background as context
In organizations, those backgrounds are:
- Unspoken trust between colleagues
- Past collaborations that shaped current teams
- Invisible influence patterns
- Shared knowledge that lives between systems
They don’t show up in org charts or spreadsheets.
But they determine how fast ideas spread, who actually works well together, and where innovation sparks.
Finding hidden connections with graphs
This is where graph-based thinking comes in.
Graphs don’t just model what’s explicit, they uncover how things are connected, even indirectly:
- A forgotten link between two projects
- A shared topic of interest between distant departments
- A third-degree connection that bridges two silos
Like Warhol’s backgrounds, these hidden layers change how the whole picture functions.
And once revealed, they become usable:
- Connect the right people faster
- Uncover synergies before meetings even happen
- Design systems that work with human networks, not against them
- Reveal the potential energy within organizations
- Enable agency
What you don’t see still matters
At Nätverkeriet, we believe innovation isn’t just about new ideas, it’s about seeing what’s already there, differently.
Just like a work of art, every organization has a foreground and a background.
And often, the background is where the real story begins.
Want to explore the hidden connections in your team, network, or ecosystem?
We can help you map what matters. Contact Nätverkeriet