Every organization runs on two systems: the formal one on the org chart, and the informal one reflecting relationships, trusted advisors, and quiet decisions. This free assessment measures how agile you are at navigating both.
Take the free assessmentEven high-performers can hit a ceiling in their careers, not because of technical know-how, but because they're unaware of informal power pathways within their own organizations. Budgets, initiatives, and careers are shaped by relationships and quiet conversations long before any meeting is called.
The Workplace Navigation Assessment measures your fluency across four coordinates — Map, Ally, Personalize, Steer — and gives you a concrete starting point to increase your navigational skills.
Every organization runs on two systems at once: the formal one reflecting the org chart, and the informal one shaped by the relationships, trusted advisors, and quiet conversations that settle some decisions before they're ever made official.
Think of that second system as your organization's dark matter, to use a metaphor from planetary science. Invisible on any chart, it nevertheless exerts tremendous pull on budgets, programs, and careers, including yours. This assessment measures how well you read and move through it, across four coordinates:
I can explain how major decisions in my organization actually get made — beyond what the org chart shows.
I know which informal relationships and alliances carry real influence over the decisions that affect my work.
I understand my organization's true priorities well enough to predict which initiatives will get supported.
When a decision surprises me, I can usually reconstruct the behind-the-scenes logic that drove it.
I invest in relationships across functions (commercial, regulatory, finance, operations) — not just with people who share my technical background.
I have built trust with colleagues outside my team before I needed anything from them.
When I need buy-in from another function, I'm continuing an existing relationship rather than making a cold ask.
People in other parts of the organization would describe me as someone worth knowing and helping.
Before an important ask, I identify exactly which stakeholders matter and in what order I should approach them.
I know the individual decision-making styles of the key people whose support I need (data-driven, relationship-driven, risk-focused, and so on).
I know whose judgment my key decision-makers respect and listen to.
I tailor how I frame a proposal to the specific priorities and 'decision checklist' of each stakeholder.
I can reliably secure budget or resources for the initiatives I believe in.
I line up support informally — one conversation at a time — before a proposal reaches a formal decision meeting.
I time my asks and sequence my conversations deliberately, rather than presenting to everyone at once and hoping.
I can advocate assertively for my ideas while staying fully consistent with my organization's norms and my own integrity.
Navigation compounds. You can't steer terrain you haven't mapped — so build these coordinates in order, beginning where the gap is widest.
The four coordinates above are the foundation of the Navigate pillar in our work with PhD scientists moving into leadership.