Human Sensory Network

Suricatus

An early-alert system made of people. Members capture weak signals in their everyday work and analyse them together, so organisations see change sooner.

What it is

Watch together, alert early

Suricatus, our mascot, is inspired by an animal that lives in groups, where at any moment one member keeps watch for the others. When it spots danger, it warns the group. The Suricatus network works on the same principle: each member watches their part of the ground, shares what they see, and the network decides together whether there is reason to raise an alert.

Weak signals are early, still ambiguous indications of a change that may affect strategy (Ansoff, 1975). They rarely appear in reports. They are noticed by people on the ground, in their dealings with customers, suppliers, regulators and teams.

Ansoff, H. I. (1975). Managing strategic surprise by response to weak signals. California Management Review, 18(2), 21–33.

Each dot is a member. Suricatus receives the signals and raises the alert.
A group of meerkats in the desert, with a sentinel keeping watch from the highest point

How we think

The sentinel

While the group forages, one member climbs to the highest point and keeps watch. When it spots danger, it gives an alarm call that signals the type of threat and its urgency, and everyone responds at once. The Suricatus network works the same way: many eyes on the ground, clear signals and a fast response.

Clutton-Brock et al. (1999), Science; Manser (2001), Proceedings of the Royal Society B

How it works

From weak signal to alert

The network runs in a WhatsApp community: a tool members already have on their phones and use every day.

  1. Capture

    In everyday work, a member notices a weak signal: a customer's remark, an unusual delay, a change in how a supplier or regulator behaves.

  2. Share

    The member posts the signal in the Suricatus WhatsApp community, in a few lines and with no new app to install.

  3. Analyse together

    Members comment, connect similar signals and judge whether they point to a trend. The research team supports the analysis.

  4. Alert

    When several signals converge, the network issues an early alert to members, who take it into their organisations.

Who it is for

The same people the Institute works with

Professionals in Angola's real business world, at every level, who live execution every day.

Executives

Receive alerts on what is changing before it shows up in performance indicators.

Middle managers

Are closest to customers and operations, where signals appear first.

Analysts

Connect signals to data and help separate noise from trend.

Link to the Institute

The network feeds the Institute's cycle

Research

Signals from the network help set research questions and test hypotheses.

Research

Praxis

Confirmed alerts can lead to Praxis Labs in members' organisations.

Praxis

Academy

Members get priority access to masterclasses and fellowships.

Academy

Join

Join the Suricatus community

Membership runs through WhatsApp. Send us a message and you will receive the invitation to the community.

WhatsApp Community · Suricatus HSN