The Ulrich Model Is Killing DEI—And No One’s Brave Enough to Say It

For nearly three decades, the Ulrich HR model has been treated as gospel. It gave HR structure, language, and legitimacy in the boardroom. But it also quietly buried HR’s moral authority. Today, we’re asking DEI leaders to dismantle systemic inequality using a model designed to serve the very structures they need to disrupt. That’s not just ineffective—it’s negligent. The truth is this: DEI isn’t broken. The HR model it’s trapped inside is. And if we want real change, we need to stop optimizing what should be replaced. That’s why we built The HR Power Model™—not to modernize Ulrich’s legacy, but to replace it entirely.