He asked the first, “What are you doing?” and the man answered, “I’m laying bricks.”

He asked the second, “What are you doing?” and that man answered, “I’m building a wall.”

He walked up to the third man who was humming a tune as he worked, and asked, “What are you doing?” and the man stood up and smiled and said, “I’m building a cathedral.”

Which of these men do you want to have working for you? It depends--- on your purpose, business idea, and vision.

If you’re building houses for Habitat for Humanity, you don’t want someone who insists on building a cathedral. However, if the work requires initiative and passion, you would want to hire the third man.

My point being that the vision has to be aligned between the two of you.

This story also makes me wonder if the construction boss told the first guy, over and over, not to worry about what he’s building, that he was a bricklayer and that he should just lay brick. Or if he told the second man that all he had to worry about was building his wall.

Could the first two have been inspired to share the vision if the construction boss had taken the time to tell them the story of the cathedral they were building, and helped them to picture the splendid work they had been called to do? I think so.

I also believe that the time spent describing that vision would have been more than made up for by the enthusiasm of the workers after they “got it.”

I’d also bet that the boss would have set the stage to have more time for himself, once the workers took ownership for their contribution and were internally motivated, and no longer needed to be micromanaged, or waited to be told what to do at every step of the way.