Not So Fast

Implementing New Technology should be Evolutionary

All corporate functions experience shocks and change drivers—from the market, new technologies, the economy, or leadership. Why do some functions weather these shocks better than others? Why do many recruitment and other HR functions falter and fail to perform effectively when confronted with these shocks? Why do many technology implementations fail to achieve their goals?

Stewart Brand, an American project developer, and writer best known as the co-founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog and author of several books on sustainability and ecological systems, has a unique perspective on how successful change happens.

I quote from an article he wrote a few years ago:

“In recent years, a few scientists (such as R. V. O'Neill and C. S. Holling) have been probing the same issue in ecological systems: how do they manage change and absorb and incorporate shocks?  The answer appears to lie in the relationship between components in a system with different change rates and scales of size.  Instead of breaking under stress like something brittle, these systems yield as if they were soft.  Some parts respond quickly to the shock, allowing slower parts to ignore the shock and maintain their steady duties of system continuity.”

Stewart Brand's exploration into ecological systems sheds light on a parallel in the corporate world. The interplay between the various paces of change within a system's components fortifies it against shock. Rather than splintering under pressure, resilient functions bend and flex, their faster-moving elements swiftly responding to immediate challenges, thereby shielding the slower, steadier layers that sustain the system's long-term integrity and purpose.

Corporate functions, including recruitment, consist of multiple layers. The outermost is talent demand, which ebbs and flows with the market. Next is the layer of technology, including AI and an arsenal of tools for sourcing, assessing, and hiring talent. Beneath these lies the structural and cultural bedrock of the function, followed by the strength of the industry or sector it is part of. Each layer is also, to a degree, independent of the other layers, but each layer impacts the other, and they all influence each other.

Figure 1: Layers within a Corporate Function

Structure and culture are the restraining forces, pushing back against the change layers of demand and technology. These layers change slowly and provide stability, absorbing the shocks of change. Underlying all the layers is the overall industry maturity and resilience.

Let’s give an example of these layers in action.