Having run large companies as well as observing the activities of the HR fanatics, I can attest that this article is right on and should be required reading for every CEO, senior executive, board member, and entrepreneur.
I can't decide if it's amusing or sad that you were invited to participate on a panel on diversity of thought in a corporate environment, only to be kicked off because you express diversity of thought. It's mind numbing.
That was one of my favorite parts! Is that a byline they just give or did she ask for it? What kind of expert and by whose standards? I've never gotten an "expert opinion" in my byline! I need to start demanding it!
'OR even worse, HR will campaign to oust really good employees who are productive and creative and contribute to the top line but maybe don’t walk the line and say the right words. You know, they get a little spicy. They have personalities. I’m not talking about sexual harassers. I don’t want those in my company either. I’m talking about people who maybe have opinions which aren’t in line with the orthodoxies of the day. I’m talking about people who think for themselves!'
This feels like my exact ousting. I didn't just shut up and say OK. I asked many questions, most of which I never got an answer to. For example:
1. Do I have protected classes? Are my immutable characteristics 'protected'?
2. How is misgendering 'sexual harassmemt?' My understanding is that sex and gender are different.
3. What racist actions actually took place, so we know what we are doing?
4. What data supports the notion that our field and our agency are 'systemically racist?'
5. Not a question: Robin DiAngelo is an idiot. Her case for proving all 'white children' are racist by the time they are 8 years old is based on one study of 223(-ish) white children in Lisbon, Portugal. No replication, not even other youth tested (for instance, the clearly identified black youth in the same school were NOT tested). My understanding is that DiAngelo was writing about the United States. Shouldn't there be actual data??? All I had to do was look up her bibliography and do an internet search for the study.
6. (Also, not a question) The Implicit Association Test (IAT), which the entire concept of Implicit Bias is based on, is not a valid test, yet. It would be great if we had a valid test, but the people who created it can prove that one person would get differing results if they took the test an hour apart. That is hardly useful.
Suffice it to say, I was told, more than once, thar I am smarter than everyone else(!!!). As if that would shut me up. If you think I am smarter than you, why do you question everything I say? Especially since the only criticism levied at me was my 'privilege.' 😆 🤣 😂
So, remember kids: fighting racism, according to HR, means judging people by the olor of their skin, AND all other immutable characteristics. What could go wrong?!?!?!?
Thank you for saying exactly what you did. HR is not only not-mission-critical, it often breaks things and prevents organizations and companies from achieving their bottom line.
Love the line , "candidates who are inoffensive but pedigreed" , though we have come to the point where that pedigree is a brand and not an indication of competence or worth.
Would love to read about how you do hiring. What do you look for in the interview and resume to get beyond the surface? And if someone inevitably ends up not being a great match after a while, when and how do you let them go?
Are you sure her Linked In page isn't a parody account? "Chat GPT for HR", "Improv Comedy"? And those glasses. And that toothy smile. And of course she's based in Basel, Switzerland, which I would venture to guess must rank as one of the most uptight places in the known universe.
Funny, at a former job working for a CEO mentoring company, I was one of those people who was "a little spicy" (LOVE THIS TERM, maybe I'll add it to my LinkedIn profile!). Former boss and mentor left the company and I got stuck reporting to a guy in our group who was just a brown-nosing, misogynistic a-hole with zero people skills, who had no idea what my job was and didn't respect what I did there. I complained to HR and asked if the A-hole could take some basic supervisory training, like how to give people constructive feedback, keep them motivated, that sort of thing. Their response? "Well, he's been promoted up the ranks pretty quickly and we don't think he'd appreciate having to do that." So I had to continue putting up with his bullshit. Reminded them of that comment when I later resigned.
“Spicy” is (was?) a good term but now I mostly hear it in the compound word “neurospicy,” as used by everyone with any kind of mental health diagnosis to ask for accommodations (some reasonable, some less so) at school or work. Don’t get me wrong, I get making accommodations for disabilities. But at the end of the day, you still have to do the job.
Yikes — I just searched Substack for “neurospicy” and got DOZENS of hits of ‘stacks with “neurospicy” in the title or the description.
And it occurs to me that one place I’ve heard the term is in HR-like professional development sessions (not from my employer but from my professional organization).
“Neurospicy represents the spicy, tangy, and savory aspects of the brain. Being neurospicy is about depth and complexity. In essence, neurospicy captures the extraordinary, intense, (and sometimes fierce!) aspects of neurodivergent personalities.”
My most recent exposure to the term “spicy” was the eye veterinarian referring to our beloved late cat Calvin as “Mister Spicy” at an appointment. This was a cat that endured up to 14 eyedrops a day for almost two years, and two eye surgeries, for a herpes infection on one eye. He purred for every single appointment except one, I think he was having a grumpy day and earned that nickname. I’d be proud to be called “spicy”. ❤️
I've never seen neurospicy until your comment. I wonder if there is a generation or industry gap? I do project work for manufacturing and really haven't interacted in the workforce yet with people under the age of 30.
I mean, I'm a highly educated younger millennial (engineer). The youngest millennials turn 30 this year. I'm 32. But maybe I don't talk to the cohorts who spend a lot of time on Reddit or the blogosphere (?). After your comment, I asked my husband if he'd heard the term and he replied that he'd seen it on Reddit.
I’m in academia (I know, that alone probably explains it all) and most of the people in question have at least two degrees (bachelor’s plus JD, MBA, and/or PhD). Probably a little more prone to this kind of thing than engineers.
"Governments don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. That is against their interests.
"They want obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept it."--George Carlin
I would say the same is true of many corporations and other organizations.
It’s really a shame, but since 2020 (maybe before), broad overuse—abuse, really—of the term “expert” has diminished its once-respectable meaning. Today, whenever I see or hear “expert”, I see a red flag, my guard goes up, the needle on my skeptictometer gets all twitchy.
But sure, all you sycophantic puppeteers of the “experts” class, go ahead and keep it up. According to the experts, it’s a safe and effective method to get people to believe and trust you.
I'm an employment lawyer. You're right. She's wrong.
Having run large companies as well as observing the activities of the HR fanatics, I can attest that this article is right on and should be required reading for every CEO, senior executive, board member, and entrepreneur.
I can't decide if it's amusing or sad that you were invited to participate on a panel on diversity of thought in a corporate environment, only to be kicked off because you express diversity of thought. It's mind numbing.
i'm going with amusing.
Those who run HR in 2025 are the hall monitors of our youth and the equivalent of government bureaucrats
Or worse, its the people who run PTA meetings like a socialist country...
I can testify to the mid-wittedness of these awful church ladies.
I had a kangaroo trial for “racism” that shouldn’t have warranted even an email or slap on the wrist. I said, nor did, anything remotely racist.
HR lady told me with a straight face “all that matters is the way you made her feel.”
….I wouldn’t exempt the student from my writing class because her writing samples were not passable.
I love how Inc. introduces her byline with “Expert Opinion”. On whose opinion is she an expert?
That was one of my favorite parts! Is that a byline they just give or did she ask for it? What kind of expert and by whose standards? I've never gotten an "expert opinion" in my byline! I need to start demanding it!
Please don't, post COVID being an "Expert" doe not add credibility, only serves as a warning.
That's what I noticed as well -- expert!, not just an opinion.
"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." —Niels Bohr
X an unknown quantity, spurt a drip under pressure.
"Experts say..."
She’s the reason for the death of meritocracy.
I long for the days when it was called “Personnel” and they did nothing more than handle the onboarding paperwork.
Carry on Jennifer!!!
Go back to Personnel and dispose of anyone who does not like it.
She literally calls herself evil.
When people show you who they are, believe them.
'OR even worse, HR will campaign to oust really good employees who are productive and creative and contribute to the top line but maybe don’t walk the line and say the right words. You know, they get a little spicy. They have personalities. I’m not talking about sexual harassers. I don’t want those in my company either. I’m talking about people who maybe have opinions which aren’t in line with the orthodoxies of the day. I’m talking about people who think for themselves!'
This feels like my exact ousting. I didn't just shut up and say OK. I asked many questions, most of which I never got an answer to. For example:
1. Do I have protected classes? Are my immutable characteristics 'protected'?
2. How is misgendering 'sexual harassmemt?' My understanding is that sex and gender are different.
3. What racist actions actually took place, so we know what we are doing?
4. What data supports the notion that our field and our agency are 'systemically racist?'
5. Not a question: Robin DiAngelo is an idiot. Her case for proving all 'white children' are racist by the time they are 8 years old is based on one study of 223(-ish) white children in Lisbon, Portugal. No replication, not even other youth tested (for instance, the clearly identified black youth in the same school were NOT tested). My understanding is that DiAngelo was writing about the United States. Shouldn't there be actual data??? All I had to do was look up her bibliography and do an internet search for the study.
6. (Also, not a question) The Implicit Association Test (IAT), which the entire concept of Implicit Bias is based on, is not a valid test, yet. It would be great if we had a valid test, but the people who created it can prove that one person would get differing results if they took the test an hour apart. That is hardly useful.
Suffice it to say, I was told, more than once, thar I am smarter than everyone else(!!!). As if that would shut me up. If you think I am smarter than you, why do you question everything I say? Especially since the only criticism levied at me was my 'privilege.' 😆 🤣 😂
So, remember kids: fighting racism, according to HR, means judging people by the olor of their skin, AND all other immutable characteristics. What could go wrong?!?!?!?
Thank you for saying exactly what you did. HR is not only not-mission-critical, it often breaks things and prevents organizations and companies from achieving their bottom line.
There are pnly 2 sexes/genders, male/female. XX or XY. Anything else is a lie.
Love the line , "candidates who are inoffensive but pedigreed" , though we have come to the point where that pedigree is a brand and not an indication of competence or worth.
Won’t be long before corporations and businesses of all sizes will be coming to you asking how you do it… the new way. Great essay.
Would love to read about how you do hiring. What do you look for in the interview and resume to get beyond the surface? And if someone inevitably ends up not being a great match after a while, when and how do you let them go?
Are you sure her Linked In page isn't a parody account? "Chat GPT for HR", "Improv Comedy"? And those glasses. And that toothy smile. And of course she's based in Basel, Switzerland, which I would venture to guess must rank as one of the most uptight places in the known universe.
I wondered same. Improv is bad enough!
Funny, at a former job working for a CEO mentoring company, I was one of those people who was "a little spicy" (LOVE THIS TERM, maybe I'll add it to my LinkedIn profile!). Former boss and mentor left the company and I got stuck reporting to a guy in our group who was just a brown-nosing, misogynistic a-hole with zero people skills, who had no idea what my job was and didn't respect what I did there. I complained to HR and asked if the A-hole could take some basic supervisory training, like how to give people constructive feedback, keep them motivated, that sort of thing. Their response? "Well, he's been promoted up the ranks pretty quickly and we don't think he'd appreciate having to do that." So I had to continue putting up with his bullshit. Reminded them of that comment when I later resigned.
“Spicy” is (was?) a good term but now I mostly hear it in the compound word “neurospicy,” as used by everyone with any kind of mental health diagnosis to ask for accommodations (some reasonable, some less so) at school or work. Don’t get me wrong, I get making accommodations for disabilities. But at the end of the day, you still have to do the job.
i've never heart that!
I ❤️❤️’d that cat. We lost him on New Year’s Eve and I still miss him.
Yikes — I just searched Substack for “neurospicy” and got DOZENS of hits of ‘stacks with “neurospicy” in the title or the description.
And it occurs to me that one place I’ve heard the term is in HR-like professional development sessions (not from my employer but from my professional organization).
But wait! There’s more! Here’s where Google took me: https://www.neurosparkhealth.com/blog/neurospicy-meaning-what-it-means-and-where-it-came-from
“Neurospicy represents the spicy, tangy, and savory aspects of the brain. Being neurospicy is about depth and complexity. In essence, neurospicy captures the extraordinary, intense, (and sometimes fierce!) aspects of neurodivergent personalities.”
My most recent exposure to the term “spicy” was the eye veterinarian referring to our beloved late cat Calvin as “Mister Spicy” at an appointment. This was a cat that endured up to 14 eyedrops a day for almost two years, and two eye surgeries, for a herpes infection on one eye. He purred for every single appointment except one, I think he was having a grumpy day and earned that nickname. I’d be proud to be called “spicy”. ❤️
I've never seen neurospicy until your comment. I wonder if there is a generation or industry gap? I do project work for manufacturing and really haven't interacted in the workforce yet with people under the age of 30.
Overeducated millennials, I think.
I mean, I'm a highly educated younger millennial (engineer). The youngest millennials turn 30 this year. I'm 32. But maybe I don't talk to the cohorts who spend a lot of time on Reddit or the blogosphere (?). After your comment, I asked my husband if he'd heard the term and he replied that he'd seen it on Reddit.
I’m in academia (I know, that alone probably explains it all) and most of the people in question have at least two degrees (bachelor’s plus JD, MBA, and/or PhD). Probably a little more prone to this kind of thing than engineers.
"Governments don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. That is against their interests.
"They want obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept it."--George Carlin
I would say the same is true of many corporations and other organizations.
It’s really a shame, but since 2020 (maybe before), broad overuse—abuse, really—of the term “expert” has diminished its once-respectable meaning. Today, whenever I see or hear “expert”, I see a red flag, my guard goes up, the needle on my skeptictometer gets all twitchy.
But sure, all you sycophantic puppeteers of the “experts” class, go ahead and keep it up. According to the experts, it’s a safe and effective method to get people to believe and trust you.
Skepticometer! Genius! 😂