The average life span of an S&P 500 company has plunged from 61 years in 1958 to under 18 years today, and forecasts indicate that 75 percent of today’s companies could vanish by 2027. This dramatic trend is only one sign of a fundamental transformation in how organizations function.

In an era of exponential technological progress—where artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology and quantum computing increasingly outperform human efficiency—the old HR mantra “People are our greatest asset” is outdated. Yet it is precisely the “H” in HR—the element of what it means to be a Mensch (human) in future—that becomes the pivotal driver of business success.

Welcome to the H-Revolution: everything that can be managed as a resource is moved to algorithms, robots and software. Management itself becomes technology. 

The goal with this “H-Revolution” is not to replace the human being with machines but to rethink its role inside organizations. “Human” and the “R” in HR gain radically new meanings: Human Resources turn into Human Realization. As technology disrupts the world of work, uniquely human capabilities will be the cornerstones of the becoming organization.

This article introduces a new HR framework built on four dimensions—Human Reasoning, Human Rhetoric, Human Recognition and Human Relationship—that help organizations master a dynamic future while keeping people at the center.

The Becoming Organization: Why Change Is Inevitable

The age of exponential technology has rendered traditional management obsolete. Management as a human activity is dead; management today is technology. What we need now is a new understanding of leadership.

Companies that cling to rigid structures and finite goals are doomed to fail. Thebecoming organization does not see business as a series of finite objectives but as an ongoing, dynamic adjustment of direction. It treats uncertainty as an impulse for redesign and progress, fostering a culture of exploration and long-term thinking—playing the “infinite game” of continuous change.

At the heart of this shift lies anticipatory leadership: the foresight to anticipate possible futures. It demands understanding how exponential advances—AI, quantum computing, robotics, biotechnology—reshape human behavior, societal needs and regulatory frameworks. The task is to get ahead of developments and seize them as opportunities, rather than reacting to them as threats.

Transforming the “R”

Redefining leadership and organizations requires a deep look at the human element. Traditional “HR” unfolds into four central dimensions that form the foundation of a constantly reinventing corporate world.

1. HUMAN REASONING – Better Problems in the Age of Algorithms

Reasoning is the ability to grasp things consciously, establish and verify facts, apply logic, and question or justify practices, institutions and beliefs using new or existing information. In the 21st century—when algorithms make decisions and AI outperforms us in many rational processes—we must ask: What is the distinctly human contribution to reasoning? Technology delivers answers to “how” and “what,” but humans ask the next question—the “why.”

Successful companies evolve not through mere answers but through a deeper understanding of the problem: first-principles thinking.

Human Reasoning therefore means cultivating the ability to think from first principles and to engage with complexity. Reaction becomes reflection. Instead of quick fixes, fundamentally better problems and lasting progress emerge.

Philosophical contemplation is now required in every industry and enterprise. Companies need no caretakers of the status quo but catalysts who dare to question the seemingly obvious. The search for “why” distinguishes us from machines and opens new paths.

2. HUMAN RHETORIC – The Art of Creating Impact with Meaning

In a world awash with information, success hinges not on access to knowledge but on the ability to turn words into meaning and meaning into impact. Aristotle defined rhetoric as “the ability, in each case, to see the possibly persuasive.” It is about ethos (credibility), pathos (emotional connection) and logos (logical argument).

The becoming organization has the “right” data, practices operational excellence and masters agile management—yet stories move people. They forge emotional bonds and cultivate trust, which, together with technology, gives the becoming organization an edge. Stories are the operating system of human collaboration: they align teams around a shared vision, translate abstract AI roadmaps into tangible significance and generate trust without which change cannot succeed.

Credibility and the craft of delivering messages that resonate remain super-powers—even in the 21st century.

3. HUMAN RECOGNITION – The Human Being as an Effective Subject

Recognition is fundamental to human self-awareness. It is not about treating people as “capital” and ticking off their needs according to Maslow. It is about acknowledging every individual as a unique subject—not as a function but as a person.

In the becoming organization, Human Recognition goes beyond mere identification. It is a deliberate, positive valuation of each individual as a center of possibilities. It fulfills human needs for appreciation, belonging and meaningful contribution. Thus arises agency—the capacity to act effectively, to assume responsibility and to experience oneself as a shaping subject. Recognition is not a polite luxury but a driving force for unleashing human self-efficacy to the benefit of the becoming organization.

4. HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS – The Power of Connection for Flourishing

For Hegel, self-consciousness is not isolated—it unfolds only in interplay with other autonomous subjects. That principle holds truer than ever: in an increasingly connected world, identity, impact and development arise not solo but together. The becoming organization recognizes this and makes Human Relationships a core design principle.

It thrives on deep connectedness, understanding that everything is interlinked and that learning and development are collective, relational processes. HR must therefore shift from resource administration to the cultivation of Human Relationships: lived trust, the fostering of individual strengths, a work environment built on interdependence rather than control, and an emphasis on learning over rigid knowledge transfer.

From Humans as Resources to Sources of Potentiality

We stand at a turning point. The classic view of people as mere resources is outdated. Seeing humans as resources reduces them to means to an end—consumable and measurable, in competition with machines—a contest humans will lose. Yet within this recognition lies enormous potential. The new perspective places the whole human—capable of Reasoning, Rhetoric, Recognition and Relationships—back at the center.

We must understand humans as potentiality: a source of vitality and creative power that can unfold and shape the new. The aim is not to use people for a specific purpose but to release their abilities and promote self-realization and intangible values.

The question is not whether we must change, but whether we can afford not to. The becoming organization that launches the H-Revolution today gains at least a head start—a competitive advantage and distinctive edge in an optimization society obsessed with sameness.