TL;DR
Forget the “lone hero” version of change management. Big transformations live or die on the strength of your networks. An ex-CIA officer once taught our team that cultivating cells—small, trusted circles who feed you information from the front lines—is far more effective than trying to command and control everything yourself. That same principle applies to change work: you need eyes and ears everywhere.
A Different Kind of Guest Speaker
Years ago, when I was part of a corporate change team, our leader did something unusual. Instead of bringing in another consultant, academic, or motivational speaker, he found an ex-CIA officer to talk to us about how intelligence networks really work.
He didn’t give us Hollywood spy stories. Instead, he spoke about cells. Not lone wolves, not huge bureaucracies—but small, semi-autonomous groups built on trust and a shared mission.
The agency used them because no one person could track everything. A leader needed sources—scattered, reliable voices reporting back from different places in the field. Success depended on cultivating and sustaining these cells, not on having the loudest megaphone.
I walked away thinking: this is exactly what we should be doing in change management—which, of course, was exactly the lesson my leader wanted me to absorb.
Why Practitioners Need Cells
When you’re running a change initiative, it’s tempting to think you can see the whole landscape from your project tower. The reality? You’re blind without intel from the field.
- Resistance doesn’t surface in meetings. It brews in hallway conversations, Slack threads, and quiet frustrations.
- Adoption isn’t measured in KPIs. It shows up when people actually use the new system at 10 p.m. on a Friday night—or avoid it.
- Leadership alignment isn’t about glossy decks. It’s about whether managers repeat your messages (or contradict them) when you’re not in the room.
No dashboard captures this. You only learn it if you have cells.
Building Your Network of Cells
You don’t need espionage training. You need curiosity, trust, and patience. Think of it as cultivating “circles of confidence” inside the organization.
- Identify the Natural Connectors
Find the people who always seem to know what’s going on. They’re not always in leadership roles. Sometimes it’s the project admin, the floor supervisor, or the quiet engineer who everyone confides in. - Invest in Trust
Cells work because people believe you’ll use their intel wisely. If your first instinct is to escalate everything to leadership, the network dies. Protect your sources. Share credit. Keep their confidence. - Create Two-Way Value
A cell isn’t just there to feed you information. Give them early visibility. Share context that helps them navigate. Make it worth their while to keep talking to you. - Stay Decentralized
Don’t centralize everything into one giant feedback committee. A handful of small, overlapping cells will give you richer, more accurate reads. - Close the Loop
If they tell you about a pain point, follow up. Show them the fix. This is what keeps the intel flowing.
The Difference Between Data and Intel
Your project dashboards will tell you what’s happening.
Your intel cells will tell you why.
Dashboards might show low adoption. Your cell tells you that managers are telling their teams to “wait and see” because they don’t trust the rollout.
Metrics might show tickets piling up. Your cell tells you that employees are venting in private chats and feel unheard.
Data is the map. Intel is the terrain. You need both.
Lessons from the CIA for Change Work
That day with the ex-CIA officer stuck with me because it reframed the job. Practitioners aren’t just messengers of top-down plans. We’re field operatives. We gather, analyze, and move information. We protect sources. We build networks that keep us close to reality.
And when leaders ask how we know something, we smile and say:
“We have our ways.”
Final Thought
Change work fails when it’s treated like broadcasting—loud, polished, one-directional. It succeeds when it feels like intelligence—quiet, persistent, and networked.
The lesson from that ex-CIA officer wasn’t about espionage. It was about humility: no one has the whole picture. Your job is to build the cells that do.
ChangeGuild: Power to the Practitioner™
Frequently Asked Questions
Why compare change management to CIA tradecraft?
Because both rely on intelligence networks. Just as the CIA uses small, trusted cells to gather information, change practitioners need networks inside the organization to surface resistance, adoption barriers, and unfiltered feedback.
Isn’t this just a stakeholder network by another name?
Not exactly. Stakeholder maps show who’s important. Intel cells show you what’s really happening on the ground. One is structure, the other is substance. You need both.
How do I find these “cells” inside my organization?
Look for natural connectors: the people others confide in, the quiet influencers, the admin who knows everything. They’re rarely the ones with the biggest titles.
What’s the risk of building an intel network?
If you misuse the information or expose your sources, trust evaporates. Protect your cells. Share insights responsibly. Show you can act on intel without burning the people who gave it.
How does this approach scale?
You don’t need dozens of cells. A handful of overlapping, trusted networks is enough to give you a real-time read on the organization. The point isn’t more data—it’s sharper insights.
Your dashboards don’t tell you everything.
Your leaders don’t hear everything.
But your intel network will.
That’s what separates practitioners who push decks from those who actually move change.
Build your own cells. Learn the tradecraft.
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