Thoughts by Brenan German, Founder and President of Bright Talent
Sept 4, 2025
READ ARTICLE: A new operating model for people management: More personal, more tech, more human
I am several episodes into the documentary called “Light and Magic,” which is about the visual effects pioneers at a company called Industrial Light & Magic who created the groundbreaking model-based visual effects for Star Wars.
I am inspired by their innovation and how they collaborated so successfully to create the most memorable scenes in the early Star Wars trilogy. There’s one pivotal moment in which George Lucas, the creator and visionary of Star Wars, asked one of the engineers to make something happen in the film that was thought to be impossible. The engineer’s immediate reaction was “I can’t do it,” yet George pressed him, “Why don’t you try?” The engineer’s retort: that “I can’t see how to make it happen.” Again George urged him, “Why don’t you try?” The engineer said he’d try.
As the engineer started thinking about how to make the scene happen, something deep within him welled up and he visually figured out how he could make it happen. He then went on to make the “impossible” happen. Another innovation in visual effects was born from simply being nudged to “try again.”
As I read this article by McKinsey & Company, I found myself feeling like the engineer in the documentary. Even with all my HR operations experience, I was still having trouble visualizing what they’re sharing. Inspired by the encouragement of George Lucas, I said to myself, “Why don’t you try? Why don’t you push yourself to try and see the future from this article?”
Here's the thing: I understand how AI will handle administrative tasks, research, and answer frontline employee questions more efficiently. Where I get hung up is how tech will democratize the employee experience. In theory, I comprehend how each employee could customize their own experience, but viewed through my compliance lens, I see potential struggles with the risk of inequality – particularly when they suggest “tailored compensation and benefits” that can differ one from the another. And when they talk about the fluidity of talent moving through an organization as needed, I see a conflict with talent that’s in demand and the human nature of managers desiring to not let go of that talent.
The article states we should reimagine boundaries between the business and people, which is rather like saying “Why don’t you try?” When I reimagine an org chart, illustrated in the article as a plotted line graph connecting different circles representing types of expertise, my linear thinking is challenged. However, when I think of it as a sports team with different specialties that come on and off the field as needed, then I can grasp the idea of a fluid workforce. If I similarly reexamine the employee experience lifecycle and dive deeper into each step, I allow myself to see use cases to blend technology with function to streamline productivity.
The key to streamlining the people operating model is in the details. It gets down to the “pixel level” (borrowing from the movie) – to map every step of the employee journey, one moment at a time, like stop motion animation. The article does not suggest you attempt to blow up the existing operating model and start anew. Rather, it suggests you build a plan and move through the plan one step at a time to transform operations.
Returning to the visual effects analogy, they drafted story boards to detail each scene in the movie. Each scene called for some type of effect to bring the scene to life. They had a team of specialists, each with different skills, who would work together to figure out how to make the magic happen. Likewise, starting with the employee journey as a story board, we can figure out what skills are needed on the people ops team to bring it to life. But it starts with a vision to ensure the story remains on point.
The article recommends building a team and setting a clear “North Star.” I like to call this congruency between tech, data and people – figuring out how to work harmoniously and differently than before. The team will require a cast of characters, each with a specialty and the courage to be creative. No ideas are dumb, and most should be tested before dismissing. This is a new playground, and we’re all being called into the sandbox to play. Pardon the pun, but it’s ok if your North Star becomes Star Wars, because that’s the point of tension – to break through to meaningful innovation.
As HR leaders, we really have nothing to lose from this approach, because there is more risk in remaining complacent than there is in reimagining a better HR operating model. As the article deftly highlights, it is our humanness that will dictate how technology enhances our work, not the other way around. And there is no better function than HR to lead this charge.
Why not give it a try?
Credit to McKinsey & Company and the People & Organizational Performance Practice, including Asmus Komm, Fernanda Mayol, Neel Gandhi, Sandra Durth, and Dr. Jasmin Kiefer, for the Future Of Work insights that continue to shape #HRLeadership, drive #Innovation, and elevate the #EmployeeExperience.
#StrategicHR #HROperations #CHRO #HRIS #WorkforcePlanning #McKinsey