The (uncomfortable) truth of HR and leadership development | Patrick Vermeren | TEDxKMA

Quackery and pseudoscience can be very dangerous. Not only in medicine but also in human resources. Alarmed by the nonsensical ideas of Transactional Analysis, Patrick Vermeren set out on a mission to reveal the truth about the many HR theories, models and questionnaires. The academic literature revealed that most HR practices (in recruitment, assessment, development, coaching…) are very problematic and some even dangerous. In this Talk valid alternatives are presented.
Patrick Vermeren has been active as a consultant, trainer and coach since 1996. He built on his experience at major Belgian banks ( Cera and Dexia) and an American multinational ( Procter & Gamble).
Since he joined Perco he advises HR professionals and he guides groups and individuals in the areas of leadership, coaching and facilitating decision making in groups ( participation). He also assists CEOs, managers and high potentials through training and personal coaching.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@Amazology]

I've known this for years - but I like seeing a man with a mission :)

[@heathersells2770]

HR has been mismanaged for years, but often driven by leadership that is not a part of HR. I had different expectations of this talk but overall it was good. I think that HR professionals need to be stronger, they need to be leaders and push for change.

[@sinjofin1]

Without a doubt - fear is their mantra so the discipline eis a washout should go back to OD when it was open ended and testing its outcomes

[@itravellight]

This was my thought as well. I've been practicing HR for 25 years. Most often, HR is following direction from senior executives who hold certain beliefs as presented here. HR for the most part becomes the "executioner" or executor of policy, not the creator of this kind of policy and practice.

[@dragoncake8141]

Hey can u guys tell me how to deal with people who has negative impact, negative influence on us?

[@mrinalkrant2523]

I am MBTI certified Admin! I myself took this test 10 times and all I found was that , type was changing and it was based on belief than reality! Agree forced choices make these tests much less close to understanding our personality. This can be just a discussion starter! Good presentation!

[@anironboot]

I and many of my family members have taken MBTI tests many times over several years. Only one of them ever changed type and after much discussion he revealed that he "gamed" his answers to move into his preferred type (he wanted to be an Extrovert rather than Introvert). I suspect that this occurs a lot with many tests.

[@peanutbutterjellybeans1336]

He made a choice to abandon the pseudo-science models (e.g. Myers Briggs personality test etc...) and opt for the reliable science-based methods instead. Never gives an example of what those methods are... Just saved you 20 minutes.

[@lukearrington2164]

I think he does give some context around 14:22 concerning the 5FM and the 6FM to show the normal distribution. I don't know if he's highly recommending them, but he's at least showing that they produce more consistent and normalized results that are produced through the scientific method.

[@carson8013]

10:18 & 18:24 there is lists on screen

[@kathrinesmith2649]

I agree. He's so obtuse in my opinion... "All these are wrong... so 'trust science'." However, the science of today becomes the pseudoscience of tomorrow.

[@Joelleong]

@@kathrinesmith2649 He cited Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins but their theories are also not universally accepted (even by other scientists). One needs to be discerning... the latest scientists who come up with research to debunk other scientists' theories doesn't mean that they are right (even if they are now popularly accepted). Subscribing to the latest theories seems like an easy way to look intelligent... I don't have answers myself but this video raised the awareness for us to be more careful with our well embedded HR practices.

[@kathrinesmith2649]

@@Joelleong I think it's easy, as this presenter has done, to give the most "agnostic" presentation - that is, he says "I intelligently disagree with 'all these' specific points while intelligently believing in a 'higher something' that is both unspecific and grand." The illusion of intelligence without any risk of being proven wrong. It is more precarious to defend a positive idea than to attack one. A debate that does not end in a life and death decision is pointless.

[@dlgnelson1]

Excellent presentation. Having worked as a scientist at a major corporation for many years, I was constantly amazed at the lack of science, critical thinking, and professionalism in our HR department. Over the years, I saw the cycling (and sometimes recycling ) of faddish people management programs that usually had a demoralizing effect on employees rather then motivating better performance (the Jack Welsh model was popular for many years). Being naive, it took me many years to realize that our HR department was not really there to help employees but as a tool for upper management, and often to serve just as a stop on the rung for management types as they climbed the corporate ladder. Because of the turnover in HR management, the emphasis was on bringing in new HR programs, but not staying in the department long enough to determine if they actually worked.

[@lesliesheridan8931]

As a seasoned HR professional, as well as someone who sold pre- and post-employment assessment tools for years, a few comments: 1. I agree with much of what he has to say about HR and its need for change. 2. I agree with what he has to say about the flaws of SOME assessment tools. That said, some of his assumptions and assertions are dangerous and unfounded as he appears to be throwing out the baby and the bathwater. Also, as someone educated by Industrial Organizational (I/O) Psychologists on the important tenets of assessment validation and the fact that all assessments are not the same, this is lacking in his presentation. Additionally, it is VERY important to get information on assessment theory and validation from an I/O Psychologist. From the appearance of his Linkedin Profile, I do not see that he possesses this. As such, though an interesting piece with some merit, some of his assertions about assessments fall on deaf ears.

[@WhiteMouse77]

no

[@durgatruex5553]

Too bad he doesn't address the asinine nature of most often-used HR hiring and recruiting models- Applicant Tracking Systems, "unicorn" job postings, outdated interview techiques and resume requirements, and those ridiculous "psychological" questionnaires in the clunky and inefficient online application software people have to use to even get a conversation with someone. This entire general subject matter is one of the core reasons that a) companies have a hard time attracting and retaining "top talent" and b) a huge majority of people under 40 are choosing not to enter corporate culture at all, instead working for startups or becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

exactly that and the search for the purple squirrel candidate and H1b and outsourcing!

[@imu6085]

corporate culture sucks if you don't fit the size of the collar they have for you.

[@chassiex3]

thats what i came here for!!

[@ianhopfethehrpro]

I wish he would have spent more time talking about the top few tools we should be using. He only flashed the things we should be using on his screen real fast. I paused and took a screenshot to do my own research. It would have been great to have this list in the video description. As an HR Pro I’m always looking for the right help.

[@sohangchopra6478]

For some reason, this guy thinks he can just make a bunch of assertions without providing any evidence or justification for them.

[@james3374]

I feel really bad for the speaker. He's obviously a very intelligent and sincere person. I could see his struggle with trying to find a blame for what happened to his brother and sister-in-law, without fully understanding how his own cognitive dissonance influenced his perceptions. Rationalization and Intellectualization are defense mechanisms that are often used by intelligent people to shield themselves from painful truths. This man is severely broken.

[@james3374]

I just realized that this guy is a consultant and trainer. He's discrediting the current HR tools in order to set a precedence for his own services- HR training. He convinced TED.

[@quentinjones8725]

Brilliant!!! Still so very current, Patrick. Thanks again for providing intellectual leadership in this space.

[@krystynach.6084]

awesome talk. as a psychologist, I love the way he deconstructed fals beliefs and theories that doesn't serve the human. Sir, I am your great fan

[@luzrodgers7747]

Old talk but quite alarming. Patrick makes huge assumptions on the HR practices but not about the scientific models; which at times are an ever changing method/practice itself. How about putting more time in summarizing the positive in each side and comparatively showing solutions? Didn't see the connection in his storylines either ! WOW I'm glad it took me this long to hear his TEDx Talk.

[@EverythingHR]

Compliance is not about doing what we say, but about making sure that what we do is what people want and need.

[@luisrodriguezgallegos6561]

Totally bogus chat, lately TED - mostly on new/small sites - sometimes is use as a platform to launch a personal business, and objectivity gets lost with this pseudo and opportunistic consultants or egomaniacs that just want their TED moment. To connect his suicidal sister-in-law on a clear miss handling from a mediocre psychiatric with faulty psychometrics or HR fads was rather confusing and desperate. I'm sure somebody coached and told him that to build an early and "impactful" image in the audience, brings high attention. For me, this fellow went too far exposing her family sensitive hurdles, shameful!. And then that closing, talking about Emile Ratelband and Richard Bandler, yes two NLP mercenaries and clowns with spiders and burning charcoal walkings - particularly Emile - and then suggesting Richard Dawkings and Steven Pinker is totally missing the point. Nothing that this writer and scholar handle and defend (Atheism promoter and Linguistics) fall into HR world or potential methodologies to improve what he criticizes. He has a point, YES: HR tools need calibration and objectivity, there are a lot of fads indeed and mostly too many tools making unneccesary noise. Regardless that his example from horses although it was exagerated, since normally is not used to asses serious HR processes but rather promote introspective conversation in teambuilding efforts, YES, there are several examples as bad fads. However, there are also a lot of great systems, assessments and tools that are very assertive and help. I think Mr. Vermeren (an obvious late comer to HR arena) got his onboarding to this area from the wrong people or angles. For an HR professional, a rather good one, it's clear that is always a mistake to consider those tools and systems, as exact science or definite/final sensors and base your employees and teams development, just on those mechanisms outcomes. Most of the time these tools results, are not even refer or directly used with employees, but just to give a common, standardize reference for a rather more assertive and well trained feedback session with clear observations from direct managers or a group talent review session with other real, objective, serious and consented team (360 angled) inputs. It's clear that this gentleman is a new consultant with a "bogus an rather stretched point" trying to get a catch with his recent consultancy launching firm. BTW he's now working developing Leadership and consulting business with similar "appreciation", non-perfect or not exact scientific methodologies. Still today, human behaviors and learning processes, are not easy to handle as exact science or common/global systems and solutions may vary along people lives inside a dynamic society and organizations. Finally , I'm still awaiting for Genetics (Human Genoma studies) and other breakthrough new science fields with THE perfect solution. Meantime current, existing and cohesive-complimentary tools, with proper handling and internal training, can help and guide great professional HR processes and YES!, support companies, teams and individual development. C'est Tout !.

[@evert7074]

So now we know, with knowledge comes responsibility

[@Aar0nMD]

This guy is bang on. One of many reasons I abandoned HR career wise.

[@frankdus]

The ad I have to see before listening is one of Tony Robbins 🙈

[@robwicke1709]

I think he's got a book to sell, which may be why he withholds the solutions :) Seems to me that he trashes a load of models that claim to aid the understanding of a person (the models may well be innacurate, but in this presentation he doesn't provide peer reviewed evidence as to why) and puts an emotional reason (see the case study of a tragic situation, in it he doesn't demonstrate clear cause and effect but projects a narrative that fits his presentation) for why we should use what he thinks are science based models and caps it off with implying this is a moral issue. He might be right, but there's room here for skepticism.

[@unwantedvoid1678]

Looks like some of the viewers don't understand the topic. I will try to explain it, so here it is: useful HR insight, summoned by the author, is that the HR itself is useless. HR specialists, employees of this industry mostly trying to sell to the others social and psychological technologies that they don't fully (and sometimes totally) understand and mastered by themselves. Real HR must be presented by a different people with a different knowledges cause HR isn't a profession itself. It's a branch of the complex specialities, based on science (from neurobiology to sociology), that correspond (not compete) to each other to reach the final mission of HR: help to organise the communication and interaction processes between different individuals, groups of people and not to modernize, blindly "amend" them by a brutal force due to some ideology stuff. So, HR isn't a magic or psychotechnics kit, it's a science and not only one but many different.

[@keuningin]

Finally someone who puts all those fads in perspective. They are created to give us the idea that we can control human behavior, but they can do a lot of harm. There is no simple theory that works, because humans are very complex beings. There are however some instruments that help us get more insight. I would urge coaches, trainers and HR people to learn about those and to question their scientific value. Because that is ultimately our responsibility.

[@PhillyEaglesFanatic]

Jacqueline Keuning Yes we are complex, but that doesn't mean there aren't answers. Often, people do what they do not out of some deep reason, but simply out of pride, stubbornness, or because they enjoy being a straight craphead...

[@piotrek_4_]

Spot on

[@otisanon5176]

The big question is "Why do these psudo-practices become prevailant?" The answer from my perspective is that most decisionmakers do not have the competence to assess the method and since most decisionmakers have an inflated sence of competence they will not listen to experts who do.

[@pfinn74]

I think the reason pseudo methods become prevalent is because they're pervasive among coaches in MLM and pyramid selling, who insert a few words like 'quantum' and 'reticular activating system' to make it look good. This then finds its way into much of the self help literature which in turn is made popular by celebrities hence finding its way into the minds of hr managers. So, I wouldn't point blame at hr as they can only really run with what they know. I think the antidote is for more people like Patrick with knowledge of psychology and neuroscience to emerge and spread their knowledge.

[@user-eb9wv9og7t]

Telling the truth is so good!

[@andychristiansen9766]

Where was the truth?

[@bimmerman88]

When I started my BBA studies, I felt sick to my gut when hearing all these dated and false theories/models. I have decided then to threat people fair and concentrate on well being of other people ''my emploeeys if I ever start a business'' which seems likely because I want no part in being a slave to false information Ps. Same goes for marketing!

[@anisahraffelinna3174]

would love to know the solutions

[@hrbox8556]

great one

[@MarkMcDaniel]

The best way to build a corporate culture of hard work is to eliminate bureaucracy, HR chief among them. The simpler our work life is, the happier we employees are.

[@Berzins69]

Fantastic stuff

[@pav87pav]

Just before getting scammed, this is how you are spoken to..

[@kitcat4512]

Perhaps we should take a good look into NLP leadership training and ask why many such trained leaders react with anger when their programmed opinion is challenged?

[@jamesvincent6872]

All of these subjective "assessments" are called out for what they are, a road map to nowhere. The main problem with these "tools" are that instead of creating so called talking points, many HR professionals believe the results of these tools as gospel of employee behavioral characteristics and form biases in decisions on promotions, project assignments and performance evaluations, very dangerous indeed.

[@idPlein]

Great Ted Talk. Finally someone is putting sense and non-sense in HR in the spotlights

[@BethBuelow]

Knowing how challenging it can be to synthesize and compress years of research and thought into a short time frame and then present it for the world to dissect, I respect the speaker's willingness to challenge the HR status quo. That said, this talk failed to make a coherent argument for why we should trust his findings or what the alternatives are. I agree that we ought to question our assumptions and acceptance of many of the tools people use to assess employees. People don't fit into nice neat categories. However, if the outcomes of those frameworks are used to provide a starting point for conversation and self-discovery, there's little harm in considering them. My main objection with the speaker is that he completely dismisses legitimate psychology as being useful. It's admittedly an inexact science, but it is rigorous in its own right. It's irresponsible to label all attempts to distill it for practical application as fraudulent and nonsensical. His bias and ax to grind discredits his opinion. And I am completely confused by the fact that he is a coach, yet he lumps coaching in with the pseudosciences he so vehemently opposes! It's just one example of the way he contradicts himself. He throws out some methods/frameworks while embracing others, while not offering his criteria for deciding what's valid and what's not. Overall, a disappointing talk on an important topic.

[@kevinputra4120]

I think it's quite a very satisfying talk given that he also cited studies to back up his claims of how these conventional methods of testing offer little to no value for a company in selecting a proper individual. Not to mention, you can do your own independent research on the efficacy of those methods such as how graphology, MBTI, brain scans, etc are still used frequently despite massive controversies among even psychology communities.

[@kevinputra4120]

Even if it's only for the purpose of self-discovery, the entire processes of administrating such tests all the way to interpreting them burden companies way too much. Might as well encourage your employees to use sites of pop psychology offering personalized results of your MBTI for free.

[@celiaa2006]

This perfectly sums up how I felt about this presentation as well. Thank you for so eloquently critiquing this talk!

[@inaki-np]

Where can i read about our visual sense being the most dominant sense in everyone? I want to read that research, it's very interesting

[@sheilakrish1]

the description says in this talk valid alternatives are presented... did i miss something ?

[@jahamaha]

good way to mention 7 billion personality types, i like it

[@karubuarmel1965]

A good speaker will never miss what to say about a given topic. Attaching old and weakened theories and once up on a time dogma helps in nothing. HR is social, so nothing new in finding darksides and things not so clean, which do not mean that is useless! Set up a company and cancel that department and see the results. Don't just be theoretical, analytic and rhetoric , be a part of action and you can then analyse.

[@YourSpeakingJourney]

20 minutes of telling us why all the standard personality tests and techniques are all wrong. Enneagram, Myers-briggs, NLP....literally 19 minutes of how silly it all is and how wrong they all the researchers were. And now we need to follow Dan Pinket. Save your time and go straight to Dan. He’s dismissive without logic and without solutions. I really was looking forward to a useful talk about HR.

[@kevinputra4120]

As a psychology student, I can attest to many of what he says. Many of those techniques are bogus. The only reason why many companies still preserve those techniques is because hr staffs are too comfortable with the old models and it can cost companies some money to reform the system even if it's gonna benefit them in the long-run.

[@uk7769]

My company uses long debunked 'personality' questionnaires. Waste of time, as they still hire some incompetent, horrible candidates.

[@andychristiansen9766]

It's the people using the tool, not the tool. Trust me.

[@DOdifferentlyLtd]

I can't help but conclude that this person has another agenda going on. One could argue the complete opposite to some of his espoused scientific data yet he positions these as absolutes. Understanding human behaviours is indeed complex - I do feel there is so much more to the human story (both very sad and clearly personal to Mr Vermeren) that he uses to evoke our emotional response. Science can be a great source of information but there are many 'absolutes' (once considered constants) that we now realise are not as we thought just a couple of decades ago. Examine all data, remain curious and open; think both critically and creatively. If we are in an expanding universe, where things evolve and change we need to experiment with new frontiers from many sources. It is always good to listen to different perspectives. I can't help but think there are other bias's and issues at play on this talk.

[@hakanyasak8566]

He talked about the problems but he didn't say anything about solutions. Everybody knows, the HR technicals are not very functional.. We have to learn the solutions.

[@neilwalsh3977]

In some respects, the world today lacks ''balance''. Models purport to describe a portion of ''reality'' but general liberal arts-like scepticism and curiosity are probably more serviceable in long term?

[@mbrowshan]

Great stuff!

[@jpattoncook]

35 years having to deal with HR daily both government and Fortune 500 companies. Watching the HR industry morph, change it’s name, struggling to be relevant. HRs purpose is to keep the corporation from being sued. I find the gushing endorsements of today’s HR organizations come from inside the HR industry by those with little experience and little historic perspective. Try this on for size, require HR to be accountable and “prove” they do more than occupy space.

[@craftpaint1644]

Sounds like information constipation ( not my phrase but I wish I said it)

[@jamesl9362]

70/20/10 model of on-boarding is horrible. How many mistakes do we and our associates make during their experiential training?

[@andreeadobre3190]

MBTI is actually awesome when you don't take it way too seriously. The types, bla bla, but if you look into cognitive functions and learn to spot people's dominants it can help you work/communicate with each person "in their own language" and make your life easier. If you only use it to pigeonhole people, then it's no better than the zodiac.

[@fezaozenc]

He trashes certain tests and towards the end started recommending some other. A talk that touched a great topic but fell short.

[@EstherBerlangaRyan]

Interesting.

[@danielcarlosruiz88]

He simply says some things are wrong and some things are right but never explains why. He just tears down but doesn't build up.

[@schipperstef]

It’s a TED unworthy presentation

[@ideascafe]

I don't think he is right to simplify this much. He mixes many concepts and makes claims without proving them in any way.

[@brightgardenentrepreneuria910]

At least he brings light to the long lists of "systems." People are too complicated to corral into one definition.

[@Mushimiya]

read his books.

[@pfinn74]

It's a Ted talk. He's only allowed 20 minutes. But he's given you a wonderful starting point to begin your own reading. I recommend you start with Cattell, McCrae and Costa.

[@Sameeraalibaba]

Interesting .. need to know the source of his claims to discounted all these theories and tools..

[@studentofsmith]

You can discount a theory simply because there is no evidence supporting it. It is not necessary to have evidence against it. For example, let's suppose I came to you with a theory of human behavior. Would you feel it is my job to prove my theory, or your job to disprove it?

[@Sameeraalibaba]

I totally agree with you..

[@luispinzon7022]

Give me my 20 minutes back !! This guy just crushes all the HHRR Tools but doesn´t give any evidence of why they´re not good. I only finished the talk to see if anything of the video was worth the try.

[@GoatzAreEpic]

Studying HR at this moment and I am frustrated with all the contradictionary theories I have to learn. I have a huge interest in evolutionary theory, I think it's a great tool to understand humans, however I have not seen anything in books about evolution theory or anything. I think I am going to quit as I don't get any value out of the study... It's a shame really...

[@tin5801]

GoatzAreEpic Maokai you can switch to a psy major and add a business admin minor or business admin major with a psy minor. This is a suggestion

[@kaunas888]

That is because HR is rooted in PC and is hostile to evolutionary facts about humans.

[@SyrahStormx]

Start with Dave Ulrich, most company's HR model is based on his theory of 20 years ago. It just gives you a good view on the working context of today's companies (HR going from an adminstrative to a service to a more strategical view). Know that there is no one fit for all answer and as your business context is continuously changing so should your HR systems to react and anticipate on these.

[@Boss3n]

kaunas888 sounds more like you're hostile to facts actually.

[@oliviamukuna9213]

It took me way too long to realise he wasnt getting to what I was hoping to hear... the connection to hr was off for way too long for me sorry

[@mohammadaminbatmani2897]

what means human resource professionalisation?

[@andrewpain_speaker]

The point is, to accept that models/tools are conversation starters not gospel truth - they might not be fads on the one hand, nor will the save the business world on the other hand. They are there to be wrestled with, experimented with by using and analysing the results (and accepting that at first glance, the data may not be telling you the real story). Overall, Patrick Vermeren's talk is a decent conversation starter with some useful insights in my opinion

[@rajbhandari9605]

your bar for a 'conversation starter' seems quite low -- could this be a conversation starter?

[@andrewpain_speaker]

hmm - my bar might be low I suppose .... I like talking - conversation is good :)

[@paulirineomontano5074]

Good presentation. Would it be possible to obtain a list of these better alternatives so people can use these and move away from the old ones? That will be very useful.

[@jorgetinoco3574]

I think the biggest issue with this field is that corporations are still using outdated models, this needs to stop, and some companies have already done so. My guess is that moving to up to date or advanced cities will help in moving away from this.

[@prunelltalentinmotion9625]

it is actually reflected in the presentation, ...5 factors, 6 factors, ProMes, etc....

[@dragoncake8141]

Hey can u guys tell me how to deal with people who has negative impact, negative influence on us?

[@boontahunter]

Catbert runs HR

[@Photomonon]

11:30 not true. Quantum tunneling and entanglement is suspected to occur in microtubules or neurons. Similar sort of misconception might be that a hot wire (electrically) is not also actually hot; when in reality the surface temp is 100s maybe 1000s of degrees C°. Cool to touch, but at a scale imperseptable to touch it's hot asf.

[@brianperri8601]

He lied about C. G. Jung to make his point.

[@mikem8906]

Gives no solution to his 'proposed problem'...i was waiting for something other than go follow science...

[@Rsmmt1009]

No, he actually clearly outlined many things that are "solutions". His entire presentation is about false information in HRM. He outlined OCEAN and HEXCON regarding personality as well as other well-known selection practices. And, coming from someone diving into the HRM field, the reality is that we need to follow the science much more often. You would be amazed how many organizations simply ignore that basic tenant of good practice.

[@WittenChen]

good speach

[@MrHardevThakur]

You have nailed it right on the head of HR...

[@BehrendtChase]

Great video on the topic. So important yet so underappreciated.

[@prismbrandingrealestatebra6301]

Schizophrenia is not the cause but a symptom. It is the result of a child being raised by a borderline parent; usually a mother. The borderline mother is constantly placing the child in double bind and projecting the cast off parts of her unconscious pain. The child's sense of self is then also split because they are reflecting their parent's mistreatment of them. Schizophrenia is in essence a form of ptsd not a fault of the patient.

[@krissarabadu9564]

Utterly unsure how Maslow's Hierarchy is 'wrong'. Perhaps you mean the applications of psychological and sociological theories?

[@jona457]

This is a very useful Ted Talk about HRM. Taking my 1st course right now. I've learned so much. Thank you

[@ta192utube]

Longing for the days when it was...Personnel

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

I know some things about TA, and it seemed an interesting approach for some situations. However, I never read about TA stating diseases are you own choice, which is a sick idea. However, nowadays stress on succes (making failure our dominant theme, few people realize) seems to drive people easily toward sick ideas. The relative uselessness of these approaches (which lies more in the application and rigid exageration and extrapolation than in the original ideas) is demonstrated by the fact that people ( especially managers and HR-employees) after having been enlightened, don't apply them to theirselves to become succesful, but start preaching and diagnosing their subordinates, which entails mainly (victim-)blaming. If their insights are that good, why first start practicing on others, preferably on ( often weak) guinea pigs already in your power (with less free choice)? Most practioners rely on a partners with a steady income, or run one-man-businesses that last only a year or two. The only succesful preachers are those that teach aspirant preachers. It's mainly exploitation of hope and despair.

[@terrysamaras4749]

Totally agree - evidence based decision making should be the source of our practices, however, this individual provides NO evidence at all at what he found to disprove all the 'theories' he listed, therefore not applying his own dictum to his own presentation. Therefore where was the evidence for his unsubstantiated recommendations? Practice what you preach. Consistent evidence always outweighs beliefs, even Patrick Vermeren's beliefs.

[@mitchhuff856]

It would have been nice if he showed why the his recommendations were better but he gave names. He did a good job showing how silly the things he was attacking are though. Anyone interested enough can now look into whether or not his recommendations are truly backed by science, which is still helpful to some, including myself.

[@michawill6599]

Preach it

[@notyourechochamber3137]

what would Clint Eastwood say as HR... Can you do the job or not? Do you feel lucky?

[@securityguardcommand9792]

Lost me at "Did not want to accept her disease." Anosognosia is a symptom present in schizophrenia that litterally makes it impossible to "know" they are sick. Litterly the inability to be aware of the illness. It's not denial. 😔

[@audarye]

Bach therapy might help someone... might not be something for schizophrenia but it is not a problem of Bach therapy. Quite a weak and offensive argument used.

[@christinejoycantila6379]

👍

[@coachingconchiara2263]

Based on the knowledge I have in my field, he didn't do proper research and (incorrect data, false premises and wrong assumptions), so I tend to to not trust also other fields he touched. Not relible, sorry!

[@robertszczepaniak8553]

A know-it-all guy...

[@Dani161803]

I'm sorry for his loss, but his bitterness blindsided him. His whole argumentation, intended to destroy false models is based on faulty logic and no real, actual scientific-based arguments. As a former teacher and now trainer, I can tell you that people do have a preferred learning style that help them retain information and store it in the long-term memory. And I use some of the models he destroys with much success and real transformation. These models can be used as guide posts and developmental maps, not as religious, dogmatic, rigid structures. I also used successfully hand energy on my son's leg pain that no doctor could figure out. We, the whole universe is made up of energy. Einstein himself believed in the mysterious nature of the universe and didn't pretend he understood everything. As a species, we are in infancy, we can't pretend that we know the truth or that our science reached the level of actually understanding everything. He makes my heart and brain ache....

[@Em-im1yz]

Disageee these models are applicable they just need to be applied on a case by case basis

[@prabhatprasad141]

At the end, fads replaced by lesser known fads, and junk replaced by scientific looking junk... why not throw both of them out? He touched a vast topic, and to be fair on presenter and others he contradicts, he should ask for a open debate, the way Dawkins does, although Dawkins is also considered a pseudo scientist by some set of fact based thinkers :-)

[@brightgardenentrepreneuria910]

How do you run an organization?

[@brianzeidan3252]

you can poke holes in any assessment or process. You have to take it with a grain of salt, consider the context,and use common sense. These are tools not binding chains that limit us. Also, to point out how ridiculous past philosophers are for people use to think the earth was flat.

[@neilwalsh3977]

Exactly. Kubler-Ross, for example, is not entirely without merit. It's a question of balance and reasoning. And some reasoning, as per this talk, is emotional and social.

[@rajbhandari9605]

yet I haven't found anyone lately considering 'flat earth theory' with 'a grain of salt' or cushion with 'common sense'. Most people I know would laugh the 'flat-earther' out of the room, using common sense, I might add. And thusly we should do - to all other platitudes masquerading as 'psychological theory' peddled by charlatans.

[@OMIMmusic]

While he's such a big advocate for reason and science, he hardly gave any proof for what he said. An argument like "NLP is wrong because it doesn't work, which is because it is a bad practice and Richard Bandler should be abandoned." gives ZERO proof besides personal opinion, which he did not explain and specify either. Besides that, in my personal experience I've seen NLP, Jungian pyschology and "paranormal practices" work just fine (that is in a personal, not a professional environment, but he also attacked these theories in general and not as a HR practice - or if he did, he did not give any examples to illustrate his points). He presents a couple of very good points, but strawmanning theories he doesn't seem to quite understand put me off too much to focus on the valid points he was making.

[@raven113p6]

Human Resources isn't science either...just humans prejudging other humans...

[@petrflaki9856]

exaclty

[@mariosolna]

he did give proof of many, listeng again carefully.............. in the other hand... have you said that the "paranormal" works???????

[@lizziet3978]

Hah! My ideal PhD topic in one Ted talk!

[@carlaregina6671]

Lizzie T are you PHd on HR?

[@szilviaolah9806]

I don't disagree what he is saying but he is also saying a lot of incorrect info

[@RichardFriedman]

There are a lot of fads, Jung is not one of them.

[@rajbhandari9605]

Jung may not be a 'fad' (cuz its enduring) but non-sense just the same

[@Floridafanatic28]

LOL, Don Quixote is pronounced Kee-ho-tee, not "quick-sot". :-D

[@brightgardenentrepreneuria910]

: )

[@christajo]

Total waste of 20 minutes, was looking forward to some useful HR insight

[@edwinealmonte]

ditto. What a shame...

[@Mushimiya]

It's only a waste of time because you expected simplified models which you can understand because they don't represent reality. Maybe you should sit down and actually talk and genuinely listen to people, instead of selective listening to apply models.

[@christajo]

@@Mushimiya lol jokes

[@Jaji1948]

Simply fantastic. It’s seldom that I see so much clarification in such a succinct presentation. He not only dispels many myths - some which I’d believed myself - but he also provides information on proven alternatives. Thanks Mr. Vermeren for a fine presentation.

[@wonderwoman1199]

He's misleading the audience by confusing the audience with concepts. I agree with some points and disagree with a whole lot of this ted talk. I suppose he's doing this to sell his concepts. In short, disregard everything and hire his services. Ha ha.. salesmanship it's all about the packaging.

[@55tranquility]

The only people who don’t think HR is completely useless are people who work in HR everyone else knows it’s all just a complete grift to keep themselves employed.

[@gabornagy8019]

This speech may be a good wake up call, but not the solution. I am an assessment tool developer, and I agree that higher standards are needed around understanding and utilizing psychometric tests. However, the speaker himself in this talk exhibits the same shortcomings he claims to fight against. When he says research proves x, or debunked y, he doesn't say exactly which study is he referring to. Among others, he attacked the MBTI and Belbin tools, Maslow and the Transactional Analysis and Situational Leadership models, and promoted OCEAN, HEXACO, and NEO-PI-R (these are the ones I am familiar with). There is a lot to discuss about these tools and models, but instead he simply labels one group of tools and models as fad, pseudoscience; the other group as valid, scientific. He seems to miss the point, that "validity" and usefulness is as much a property of a model as of the application.

[@mitchhuff856]

For starters he didn't actually attack Maslow's hierarchy of needs, he merely mentioned it was a part of his training. He certainly attacked other things like the MBTI. He mentions the names of things that are backed by research. If you don't believe you can look it up yourself. The purpose of his talk was to raise awareness of quackery based Human Resources.

[@mikkaea]

This guy be living in wakanda because of his accent

[@mba2ceo]

so ppl on DRUGs do NOT commit suicide ? Is he willing to pay me $1 per pharm drug suicide ?

[@whatwouldbenice]

Not even a gram of bias here..

[@Asatru55]

and also OF COURSE.. "ProMES" was the only theory mentioned as positive which is not in any fundamental way different. Only in that he is a cofounder. What a crook. Charlatans will really sell out anyone, even other charlatans.

[@eyagmati7303]

he presents many theories as non sense , okey but I don't see proofs

[@khalidkammouss7689]

Eya اية listen

[@hudaaltamim3976]

loca 😂

[@petrflaki9856]

its a bucket of demagogy and some facts intermingled and he keeps talking about what made him angry...maybe talking to a mental health professional would help more to get it out? Instead of attacking well-proven psychoterapeutical methods without giving us a claim. Also this self-importance and priestish attitude dont help...