I read an old Jeff Bezos quote this weekend about innovation and some such… it was benign but his take on how one must be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time stuck with me. In fact, I haven’t been able to get that quote out of my mind. So I started thinking about our beloved profession while juxtaposing the concept of being misunderstood against it. Juxtapose – note to self, we need to use that word more… anyhoo…
Think about what we talk about as HR pros, HR consultants, HR vendors, etc… the topics that dominate our lives… kinda reads like the self-help section of your local Barnes and Noble. Right? Review the last 40 blog post titles of your favorite HR bloggers, etc… again, a lot of self-help s#*t. I mean, we’re kinda talking about obvious s#*t. “We need to retain our best employees.” said in high-pitched nerdy voice. That could easily have been said in 50 Ad, 1800 Ad or 2012. Like duh! It can’t just be me that has grown tired of the obvious.
Maybe, just maybe, the reason HR isn’t taken seriously by other business leaders is that we’re too obvious. We’re understood. We’re completely understood. But not in a good way. Like boring – I could see you coming from a mile away understood.
Again, just run with it for a moment… maybe we (collectively) should be talking about more innovative things? Maybe we should care less if people get it and/or get us? Maybe the goal is to become completely misunderstood? Have we been doing it all wrong for the last few years? Beating people with the obvious? Beating each other with the obvious? Believing in the obvious?
I know it’s awkward… we’re people people… yawn & yack… but, for example, if I see another article about talent communities I’m going leave the Internet and never come back. {sic} I’m so sick and fucking tired of obvious HR s#*t.
Okay, solutions time…
I think we need to push each other more… to innovate… not evolutionary, revolutionary… I think it is what is required us. In doing so, we open ourselves up to criticism which again is awkward but necessary. Don’t accept the obvious as “new” or “exciting”. It isn’t and we’re not making things better by allowing s#*t to pass as steak.
I’ll tell you what… I’m pivoting (I know, I’m f’ing tired of the term as well)… in a few months, I aim to be completely mis-the-eff-understood. Now.You.Know.
/end rant/ Go back to your mediocre, ahem, obvious lives. #kidding #notkidding
I’ve seen lots of these posts on FoT, and they rarely have much meat. Lots of talking a big game then ending with a provocative statement (“Okay, Solutions time…” then no real solutions). So I’ll throw down a challenge: provide some steak with that sizzle.
Where’s my O.J. check?!
There was an article in the HBR that showed a .40 correlation between how we view ourselves and how others view us. It then went on to say that others’ perceptions of us are more aligned with our behavior – basically we have a misguided notion of who we are, and others get us better than we get ourselves. HR has earned its place as the redheaded stepchild of business by being insipid. End. Of. Story.
Articles like this help move us in a good direction by raising the topic/question at all. As for asking for bullet-pointed solutions that fit into a short blog post? That’s the kind of simplistic thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.
In a small community in an equally niche industry, I was trying to expand thinking about sourcing and training qualified individuals for a particular job. I was told by a hiring manager, “I look at the resume, and then I call a friend at Company X where they used to work, and he gives me the scoop.” When I asked him why he would let a manager at our competitor heavily influence hiring decisions for this company, he looked at me like I’d sprouted a second head. Sometimes, even the obvious is lost on people. I don’t think I will start making things complicated, but I will continue to challenge the status quo.
William, I love this post on so many levels. I think you are absolutely right about being too simple and predictable. In fact, if you do the research, most of what we pass off as best practice in HR has literally been in practice for a minimum of 60 years, some of it over a century.
If you want to shake things up as an HR pro, start studying and talking about brain and behavioral science–or hey, even a little economics would go long way. Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational should be required reading for HR pros. Might want to study some the science of influence as well while you are at it.
The key to being misunderstood isn’t just in being misunderstood (that can be completely counterproductive as well). It’s about selling out to finding a different way of doing really exception work on the people side of the business–whether your Execs understand what the hell you are doing or not. Good sh@t.
William,
Amazing post! Disclosure, I make my living by finding HR pros tha are willing to throw out the status quo to try and achieve extraordinary results.
The one thing that baffles me is all of the posts out there that talk about tying HR processes to revenue and other C-level KPI’s, yet rarely do I see an HR executive’s eyes light up when we start discussing top line business results. One of the risks that I think needs to be taken is to measure HR processes bases on one of the top 3 metrics on your CEO’s dashboard. A well thought out effort will get noticed and will improve in reliability and validity over time.
I love calling myself an HR lady but I really think of myself as a Business Solutions Partner. I think if we start thinking of ourselves in this way and proving that we provide true business solutions aligned with the business strategy, we’ll start to change our rep.
It’s not my intention to do any schmoozing here, but your articles are refreshingly authentic. Thank you for publicly addressing that you acted like a brat and got disgruntled when you didn’t get your way and didn’t have published one article you wanted published. I act like a bratty child sometimes and it’s nice to see someone else not care about what others think about them and just talk about it.
To this point I have been wondering why we are viewed as a “money drainer” for organizations instead of a value adders. To this point we have not stood up for ourselves and let leadership know that without us they’re sunk and when they choose not to listen it is the same result. However, I understand completely what you are saying here. HR folks, at least those that have been trained in HR, are more than recruiters, we see beyond what our departments are known for and we pretty much have to know as much as a labor attorney does but usually without the pay. We get what we accept, nothing more and nothing less. Let’s do something different or we can expect more of the same.