Spotting the Signals

It was supposed to be a rollout worth celebrating. New AI tools, months in the making, ready to streamline workflows across the company. The training sessions were booked. The slide decks were polished. And then… almost nothing. Uptake was slow, attendance thin.

But in the corner of the company intranet, something unexpected was happening. A handful of managers had started an informal “AI Tip Exchange.” No budget, no official blessing—just a thread where people swapped small wins and workarounds. Within weeks, it had more activity than the official training program.

In another room, a boutique communications firm was reviewing its pipeline. For years, clients had come to them for help telling their DEIB story. Now, the language was shifting. The calls were about employee trust, brand reputation, and legal risk. The work wasn’t gone—it had just moved. The leaders who noticed didn’t wait for a formal brief. They retooled their expertise and opened a new service line.

These weren’t isolated cases. During Coqual’s Navigating Uncertainty leadership series this spring, participants shared similar stories—small, early signs of momentum that became meaningful opportunities. The backdrop was clear:

• 73% of employees report feeling “change fatigue”
• 80% of executives say their organizations struggle to prioritize competing demands

In this environment, big opportunities rarely arrive with a formal announcement. They start as quiet patterns, offhand comments, or side projects that won’t go away.

That’s where The Traction Test comes in. It’s a Coqual-developed tool—part of our Navigating Uncertainty leadership series—designed to help leaders identify “quiet momentum” when traditional signposts aren’t much help. The term “traction test” might appear in other industries, but the Clarity–Demand–Signal framework, and its focus on spotting energy that’s already building, is ours.

Three simple questions guide it:

• Clarity – Do you know what it is and why it matters?
• Demand – Is anyone asking for it, even informally?
• Signal – Is there already movement, even if it’s small?

You don’t need all three. Two “yes” answers are usually enough to start experimenting.

In both the AI rollout and the communications firm, the opportunity wasn’t in the original plan, but it had energy. Acting on that energy turned quiet momentum into measurable results.

The future of work rewards leaders who see these shifts early. Signals don’t shout. They surface quietly, in unexpected places. The leaders who spot them first don’t just keep up with change—they shape it.

About the Data
Statistics cited in this post come from live polling conducted during Coqual’s Navigating Uncertainty leadership series, April–May 2025. Poll questions were answered by 3,023 participating executives across 313 industries during interactive sessions. The 73% change fatigue and 80% prioritization challenge figures reflect self-reported responses, not weighted or adjusted for sampling.