Reinvention is not changing what is, but creating what isn't. When British Airways declared itself the world's favorite airline, it faced the challenge of becoming a different company, not just a better one. When Europcar decided to become the most efficient rental-car company in Europe and Haagen-Dazs chose to make a visit to its European shops an exciting event, they didn't just need to focus on doing things to improve their competitiveness. When a company sets out to reinvent itself, it must uncover and then alter the invisible assumptions and premises on which its decisions and actions are based. This organizational context is the sum of the past and dictates what is possible for the future. When managers reinvent themselves and their companies, they create a new context that leads everyone to embrace a seemingly impossible future. Reinvention includes assembling a critical mass of stakeholders to do an organizational audit, create urgency, harness contention, and engineer breakdowns that reveal weak spots.

Personality theory. The individual frame of reference.