Dave Ulrich

I confess to hypergraphia (an addiction to writing). This has included a number of books and articles, but I was curious what this yielded in my weekly LinkedIn posts (and comments). Starting in 2016, I started posting on LinkedIn, often short (130- to 170-word) idea briefs that were more than aphorisms or maxims but not articles. Then I proceeded to post longer (1100- to 1300-word) articles that offered targeted insights (ideas, evidence, and actions) on relevant topics. I still post every Tuesday and respond to comments nearly every day throughout the week.

I summarized this ten-year work stream in figure 1.

Challenges and Opportunities Facing HR

From these ten years of experience and data, I offer the following ten reflections about the ever-evolving challenges and opportunities for managing human capability (talent, leadership, organization, and HR). I don’t see these ideas as HR going “from . . . to” in the challenges and opportunities before them, but rather “and also.” Meaning I frame these ideas as evolving to something new and more than what has been. These reflections represent opportunities for continued progress in HR.

1. Creating integrated content more than piecemeal ideas. Innumerable studies, reports, podcasts, webinars, conferences, and social media posts with oodles of content are readily available, easily accessed through AI in polished form. I have found that weaving these ideas into an integrated framework with four pivots has helped me organize the information. Most of the content in the posts fits into these four pivots (figure 2). This logic and the taxonomy behind it helps with cumulating knowledge, prioritizing initiatives, and having conversations about the same topic although different words are used. Next week, I will explore more thoroughly the content with fourteen evolutions in these four pivots.

2. Ensuring deliverables more than doables. By whatever term, human capability work is less about activities than about outcomes. The deliverables of HR continue to evolve (support HR, functional HR, strategic HR, and stakeholder HR), but merely describing activities or processes is insufficient. Outcomes focus on impact not just ideas, results not just activities, and value created not just values.

3. Relying on analytics more than opinion. Many thoughtful colleagues have informed opinions based on their experience. Often these opinions offer creative options for doing work. But evidence, research, and analytics have more impact than personal opinion. Small samples (personal observation) may have lots of variance; larger samples with data provide themes and meta messages that can be generalized. Sustainable insights generally have three elements: ideas (theories, frameworks that describe what is done), analytics (evidence, rigor around why things happen), and actions (personal behaviors or organization processes about how to do work). Insights move beyond intellectual theory to also include emotional connection.

4. Making the whole more than the parts. In the academic world, scholars often study micro (individual) or macro (organization) issues. Both are important in the world of work, but when predicting stakeholder outcomes, a consistent message occurs that teams have more impact than individuals, organization capabilities deliver more value than individual competencies, systems have more lasting impact than personal skills, and culture shapes behavior. Defining, assessing, and delivering organization capabilities becomes ever more relevant.

5. Deploying HI (human ingenuity) more than just AI. Without a doubt, the AI revolution has been a work tsunami in the last ten years, with more to come. But increasingly clear is the fact that AI without HI will not lead to sustainable results. AI increases capacity by completing repetitive tasks and driving efficiency; but HI delivers capability by taking advantage of freed up time to envision a future, innovate in the present, ensure emotion within relationships, and provide wisdom and ethics in decisions. AI capacity becomes table stakes; HI capability differentiates to create stakeholder value.

6. Spiraling forward more than recycling the past. AI enables posts that prepare polished documents, reports, graphs, charts, and presentations that synthesize, recycle, and recast the past. Rediscovering the past with new terms and images summarizes what is but may thwart progress for what can be. AI risks merely providing the foundation for recycling the past; HI spirals forward to create a future.

7. Creating others’ story more than telling a personal one. Value is ultimately defined by the receiver more than the giver. Most learners want to create their story rather than live out someone else’s. Many posts and presentations have at their base a “let me tell you what I know” theme in order to communicate insights. More powerful learning comes when thought partners commit to helping others adapt ideas so that they can create unique personal stories. This means beginning personal insights with the audience or stakeholder in mind. Ask: “Who is going to gain value from this work?” “How can I help them get the most value for them?”

8. Learning more than broadcasting. Some seem to want to promote and broadcast ideas more than express curiosity to learn. They are often naysayers critiquing what others think rather than yaysayers who seek to learn from comments and dialogue. Seeking to learn rather than being right requires a growth mindset and intellectual humility. Being able to find positive elements of any discussion builds a better future rather than tearing others down.

9. Cultivating idea friends more than just personal relationships. Coauthoring 86 posts with 45 colleagues has been a wonderful collaboration with personal relationships. Even more, ideas themselves are my friends when they inform and help me improve. Caring about people with compassion, empathy, and sensitivity to their circumstances is a critical principle of good relationships and can also apply to idea friends. Ideas often show up in ecosystems or networks where everyone has something to offer and every idea is worth considering.

10. Seeking impact more than recognition. I recall decades ago participating in a double-blind review (me not knowing author and author not knowing me): the author cited my work extensively without attribution. I was incensed and let the editor know of the plagiarism. But today, in a world where ideas flow quickly with social media and AI, impact may mean that one’s ideas are absorbed and shared by others, at times without attribution. So when impact of ideas is the goal (more than personal recognition), then this can be seen as a positive outcome. A wise leader told me once, “don’t fight for visibility but impact and the visibility will come.”

Summary and Personal Diagnostic

These ten reflections come from my ten years of weekly and daily LinkedIn participation and experiences. The principles and practices included may move HR forward. They can be applied to LinkedIn engagement but also to participating in any organization setting (work team, HR function, business unit, family, social group). The diagnostic in figure 3 might help determine how individuals or organizations are prepared to do “more than.”

Dave Ulrich is Rensis Likert Professor Emeritus at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.