https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmergy

"... mechanism of indirect coordination, through the environment, between agents or actions. The principle is that the trace left in the environment by an individual action stimulates the performance of a succeeding action by the same or different agent. "

Kind of like following or snowballing something.

But fails when it's mice going for the cheese.

This one I caught myself.
Difference with humans is that we can catch each other! Mice don't tend to do that.

Stigmergy is useless if people are in short loops of food-only / money-is-ok type actions and conversations... and don't get further past that and just into more traps (there are many).