The Talent Delusion: Why Data, Not Intuition, Is the Key to Unlocking Human Potential

Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of business psychology at University College London, issues a well-researched but off-puttingly strident plea to managers to stop relying so much on instinct and instead trust in data, the bigger the better. He begins with a scene-setting flashback to consulting giant McKinsey & Company’s announcement, two decades ago, of the “war for talent”—the idea that human capital had become the most essential asset in business, and was therefore fueling growing competition over attracting and retaining great workers. In Chamorro-Premuzic’s view, many companies still struggle to meet this challenge; in the rush to find the right people, they rely on unscientific know-it-when-you-see-it hunches. Chamorro-Premuzic portrays himself as attempting to counter the talent experts he self-righteously terms “populist agents of irrationality” by convincing HR professionals and leaders to instead heed “evidence-based” management philosophies. There’s useful information within, but the repetitive, cranky tone may make readers skeptical rather than convinced that there’s a data-denying charlatan around every corner. It’s hard to imagine who the audience is, given the already-widespread acceptance of the power of data. Agent: Giles Anderson, Anderson Literary Agency. (Nov.)