In her inaugural lecture Humans Are Not Machines, Professor Marlies de Vries argued that we need to pay far more attention to human behavior in business management.
“If we do everything strictly by the rules, we run the risk of missing what really matters.”
“In risk management we lean too heavily on rules and procedures, and as a result the human factor is overlooked. At the start of this century, we laughed about the commercial with the ‘purple crocodile,’ but in the meantime we’ve created even more ‘purple crocodiles,’” says De Vries. “That’s because the world has become less predictable. Our environment changes faster than systems can keep up with. When an incident occurs, we invent a new rule or procedure. This often makes business operations unnecessarily complex and can even lead to scandals, such as the childcare benefits affair. It’s time for that to stop. We shouldn’t add a new rule after every incident but rather learn from what went wrong. I truly believe that people are inherently motivated to do the right thing. That requires trust and breathing space.”
A Turning Point
“No matter how well processes, rules, and systems are designed, in the end it is people who determine whether organizations achieve their goals,” De Vries continued. “Organizations are not closed systems, but dynamic networks in which processes, people, and technology constantly interact.”
She considers her inaugural lecture a turning point in her career: “If you want to understand why things go wrong in organizations, you need to look at the undercurrent: people’s behavior and organizational culture. That’s not a side issue—it’s the essence.”
A unique statement, perhaps, from someone who began her career as a chartered accountant. De Vries laughs: “Yes, I come from a ‘blue’ world, but I quickly became fascinated by the influence of human behavior on decision-making and business operations. That fascination led me to deliberately broaden my scope to include socio-psychological insights and behavioral science. That became the foundation of my PhD research and now shapes my work and research agenda as a professor.”
Through the Hoop
In her lecture, De Vries illustrated the consequences of neglecting human behavior using three metaphors.
Operation successful, patient dead: “Sometimes we are so focused on jumping through the hoop that we lose sight of what really matters. Think of an auditor who focuses on producing the perfect audit file, but overlooks signs of fraud. Or a software update that is left out of the risk register because it seems too much hassle, even though the risk of data loss is real. The next day, things go wrong. Yet the system appeared to work, because all the boxes were ticked.”
The Watermelon: “When people are judged on numbers, they tend to report only ‘green’ results—the outer skin of the watermelon. Deviations are downplayed or ignored. Meanwhile, the organization may suffer from a toxic culture—the red inside of the melon. Numbers tell us a lot, but never the whole story.”
The Elephant Path: “When processes are too rigid, people will find shortcuts. Not out of unwillingness, but often with the best of intentions,” De Vries explains. “Think of a healthcare worker who calls a colleague directly to help a patient sooner, even though the official approval isn’t yet in place.”
Space for Integrity and Professionalism
With her chair, De Vries seeks to spark a shift: away from the illusion of total control through rules and systems, toward a broader perspective that emphasizes human behavior and culture. “Behavior is the starting point of management control. It’s about how we collaborate, make decisions, handle doubt, and take action. And it’s about how we create room for integrity and professionalism.”
Symposium
Ahead of Marlies de Vries’ inaugural lecture, a symposium was held. In a deep-dive session, the themes of her chair were explored. Femke de Vries, boardroom advisor and supervisory board member, opened with a lecture on Blind Spots in Organizations. This was followed by a panel discussion on current developments in the accountancy sector, moderated by Chris Fonteijn, former Quartermaster of the Future of the Accountancy Sector, supervisory board member, and chair of the National Program Groningen. Panel members included:
- Hanzo van Beusekom, Executive Board Member AFM
- Kris Douma, Chair NBA
- Mariska van de Luur, Head of Assurance KPMG
- Lineke Sneller, Supervisory Board Member and Professor of Digitalization & AI
About Marlies de Vries
Prof. Dr. Marlies de Vries RA is affiliated with the Center for Accounting, Auditing & Control at Nyenrode Business University. In 2019–2020 she served as a member of the Commission on the Future of the Accountancy Sector (CTA), established by the Dutch Minister of Finance, and from May 2020 until November 2023 she was appointed by the minister as Quartermaster for the Future of the Accountancy Sector. Alongside her university role, De Vries runs her own advisory practice and holds various supervisory positions.
She notes that this professorship has special meaning for her: “Nyenrode Business University, as my alma mater, has been a constant factor throughout my career. This appointment truly feels like the icing on the cake!”