Reinspiring the Corporation

Job Spec: Construction of Cathedral in Chartres, North West France Dimensions: 34m high, 130m long Materials: 500,000 tonnes of limestone, 176 stained glass windows Style: Gothic Time Frame: 30 years Confronted with this project would you screw it up and bin it? Probably. Why? Because the task is too enormous? Because the goal is too hard to achieve? Because you could not get the people in your organization to buy into the idea? But, wouldn't it be fabulous if you could achieve this, or its equivalent, in your place of business. How then could the construction of Chartres cathedral be achieved? Individuals working on a largely voluntary basis hauled and hammered stone, strained on pulleys, and mixed mortar to craft this monumental building. What drove them? A vision - the fulfilment of something in which they all consummately believed; something that validated the unrewarded toil; something they believed in fully. They call it Faith. What this achievement confirms is what is possible if people believe strongly enough in what they are doing. If the human soul buys into an idea with a passion, with total commitment, the bounds of what we are collectively capable are quite simply astounding. What would it be like for a company if fifty thousand souls were as single-mindedly driven to do what they did at Chartres? What would AT&T look like? IBM? ABB? Your company? This book argues that it is possible for the corporation to inspire and harness comparable committed, co-ordinated energy. The process is called Reinspiration. Apply it within your corporation and reap the benefits.