I really like this list of challenges to today's HR and organizational assumptions. The list comes from a talk Bob Sutton gave at the Singapore Human Capital Summit.  These are ten thought-provoking ways to start a more strategic HR conversation about the culture we want to create, and our true philosophy about people in our organization.

1. Assumption: HR ought to be all about spotting, hiring, and breeding individual talent
   Challenge: HR could pack a bigger wallop by focusing on teams and networks more
2. Assumption: HR should focus on finding, hiring, and developing the very best people
   Challenge: Bad is stronger than good – about 5 times stronger – so screening-out, reforming, expelling the very worst people is more crucial to collective performance
3. Assumption: Find some great superstars and pay them whatever is necessary to keep them happy – and certainly a lot more than everyone else
   Challenge:  The best organizations pay higher than competitors, but have more compressed pay
4. Assumption: Competition makes people, teams, and companies stronger
   Challenge: Unless people and teams are rewarded for undermining one another rather than helping each other… dysfunctional internal competition is one of the most pervasive problems in American firms
5. Assumption: Harmony and having a shared vision are crucial to success
   Challenge:  Perhaps for routine work; but creativity depends on battling over ideas. Part of HR’s job should be to teach people how to “fight as if they are right, and listen as if they are wrong”
6. Assumption: The key to success is copying practices used by the best companies
   Challenge: The best companies may be succeeding despite rather than because of their HR practices
7. Assumption: Every company needs a great performance review system
   Challenge:  Are they really worth the time and effort? Do they do more harm than good?
8. Assumption: Taking a leadership position brings out the best in people
   Challenge: This is a dangerous half-truth.  Giving people power over others turns them into self-centered jerks
9. Assumption: The most important thing HR can do is to find and develop great senior leaders
   Challenge:  Having an organization with a high proportion of good bosses is probably more important
10. Assumption: The best organizations have the best people, “the people make the place.” 
    Challenge:  There are huge differences in talent, but the best organizations typically have the best systems and not necessarily the best raw talent