I think it's Einstein that deserves the attribution for what I have come to know as the cycle of insanity.  Doing the same things and expecting different results.

I've been working in, with and around HR teams for almost 20 years and this cycle of insanity is something that I find alarmingly present in many HR functions.  It tends to look something this:

When HR decides to invest in itself and build the kind of practical capability that the organisation is looking for, it will be able to truly claim it's seat and provide the value the business leaders are desperately seeking.

AND....it's not a theoretical, academic approach leaders are looking for.  They are looking for HR business partners who can help them with the nitty gritty around managing change, facilitating effective meetings, sound strategic planning, building high performance teams.  They want their HR business partners to really STEP UP and be true business partners.

Jack Welch, former and famous CEO of GE, was always a fan of HR but it came with conditions.  He said that CEO's needed to value their HR Managers as much as their CFO's.   Patricia M. Trainor, J.D. on www.hr.blr.com wrote:

"When asked how HR professionals can make their CEOs recognise their value to the company, Welch responded with two words: by overdelivering. Welch explained that HR professionals have to make their bosses smarter by giving them more than what they ask for. "

So, HR it's time to stop the madness and give the business (more than) what it is asking for.