A mole, in the language of spycraft, is a person who infiltrates an organisation with the intention of ferreting out information for a hostile party. During the Cold War, the superpowers insinuated moles in each others' defense, intelligence and diplomatic apparat to gain information that could discern then disrupt or deflect the opponent's intentions.
But moles can exist in any organization. Any bureaucracy can have members of lower rank who long for the privileges, power and prestige of the higher ranks. Those bureaucrats, if they are sufficiently unscrupulous, may become moles of a sort. They report the sarcastic or 'insubordinate' remarks or forbidden deeds of their coworkers to one of more authority. The goal is to curry favor and advance some day to the exalted ranks of the managers, executives, the administrators.
Identify the mole) This may be the most difficult task. Without vigilance, the mole may go undetected for months or years. But when certain phrases shared in the confidence of the group make their way back, or policies suddenly forbid some hitherto unknown (to the upper echelons) practice, you may suspect you have a mole. With great caution, you may narrow down the candidates. One person will be common to the conversations or other information that suddenly seems less private. If you are diligent and lucky, that person will be your mole. What to do next?
Feed the mole) Before going any further in your countermole campaign you should be very certain you have correctly identified the mole. The mistaken identification of the mole not only brings a fellow prole under suspicion but lets the real mole do his or her work in obscurity. You must feed the mole. Feeding the mole means dropping bits of information to the mole, letting the mole see things, and waiting for a response. Did a certain specific phrase make it back from Olympus? Is a hitherto unknown or rarely practiced act suddenly forbidden? Then you can relax; you have identified your mole. Keep feeding the mole, sparingly, to mislead the Golden Ones as to the security of their source. Then you have two choices.
Turn the mole, or burn the mole) The first option really only has a place in spycraft. If you can offer the mole more than he or she is getting from the adversary, or threaten the mole with dire consequences, you can turn the mole. The mole will give up the name of the handler, the one soliciting the inside information, and you can feed false information back. Again more useful in the the cloak and dagger world of intrigue. What can you offer a fellow hewer of wood and drawer of water that the aristocrats cannot surpass? And given workplace rules, the law, and common decency, let alone discretion, what threat could one possibly make that would not result catastrophically for all involved? Better to take the second choice.
Burn the mole) When the bloom is off the rose so far as feeding your mole and tweaking the beak of those who lead, you still have a mole. You still must guard every conversation, every email, every act. And really, what employee can survive on that basis? So you feed the mole something so stupendous, so valuable, that the mole cannot wait to run and tell, having finally secured that bit of information that will unlock the door to privilege. Just make sure it is absolutely refutable, that all involved will (convincingly) disavow all knowledge of the incident, and in the eyes of the handler, make the mole appear to be, at the least, no longer useful, at the best, capable of fabricating tales to curry favor. Either way, the mole is of no use. Then start looking for the next mole . . .
