Who is the stakeholder missing from your stakeholder map? 

In this episode of BA Brew, Jonathan Hunsley and Lisa Hudson are joined by Danny Kalkhoven to explore the idea of the ‘secret stakeholder’. 

Unlike the stakeholders identified on a power-interest grid or stakeholder map, culture can be difficult to see or define. Yet it influences how people behave, how decisions are made, how information is shared and how Business Analysts are perceived. Ignore it, and even well-planned analysis activities can go badly wrong. 

Danny shares an example from his own career when a carefully prepared workshop ended in failure. The problem wasn't the facilitation or the preparation. It was that the participants worked in a highly competitive environment where sharing information with colleagues went against the established culture. Once Danny understood this and spoke to people individually, the conversations were completely different. 

The Brew Crew explore how Business Analysts can recognise these less visible cultural forces. Sometimes the clues are formal, but often they appear in everyday behaviour: who sits with whom at lunch, which groups socialise together, how senior leaders interact with operational teams, and even who shakes hands with whom. 

They also discuss the differences between organisational and national cultures, the importance of informal networks and organisational memory, and why approaches that work successfully in one environment may fail in another. 

Danny's advice for Business Analysts entering an unfamiliar organisation is particularly practical: find a ‘tour guide’. An experienced and trusted colleague can help you understand the informal relationships, behaviours and unwritten rules that an organisation chart will never show you. 

The conversation builds on the ideas Danny presented at the European Business Analysis Conference 2026. 

In this episode you'll discover

• What the ‘secret stakeholder’ is and why organisational culture matters 
• How culture can influence every stakeholder on your stakeholder map 
• Why a well-planned workshop can still fail because of organisational culture 
• How to identify informal networks and hidden influences 
• What everyday behaviours can reveal about an organisation
• Why different organisations and national cultures require different approaches 
• How cultural models can help Business Analysts analyse their environment 
• Why finding an organisational ‘tour guide’ can save time, effort and frustration 

Whether you're starting your Business Analysis career, joining a new organisation or working as a consultant across different environments, this episode is a useful reminder that understanding how an organisation really works can be just as important as understanding its formal processes. 

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