behind the feat, two bitter lessons on French excellence

A few months after the incredible celebration of the Olympic Games, the restoration of Notre-Dame is a new success, just over five years after the terrible fire which ravaged it in April 2019. If this feat highlights a form a French genius of whom we can be legitimately proud, he also illustrates a much darker aspect of our society: he celebrated the restoration of the past, and it was only possible by circumventing the rules of common law. In other words, in France, excellence and innovation are becoming the exception, and no longer the rule.

The restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris shows vividly that France knows how to be excellent when it gives itself the means and especially when it has the will. She knows how to be excellent in her art and technique. The restoration mobilized the best of its craftsmen and technicians, but also all the necessary trades (architects, project managers, etc.) It also mobilized the French (more than 380,000 private donors). France also knows how to be excellent at managing a large, complex project. At a time when certain large countries are having difficulty carrying out major projects, we are thinking in particular of High Speed ​​2 in Great Britain, the French capacity to carry out a complex project in record time is a mark of legitimate pride, particularly in the calamitous atmosphere currently prevailing in the country.

However, from this feat and the conditions in which it was achieved, we must learn two lessons which should sober us. The first is that the energy mobilized for this major project was retrograde, that is to say focused on the restoration of the past. This is why we talked about restoration of Notre Dame. The best emblem is the arrow of Viollet-le-duc. While the bulk of the building was built from 1163 to 1345, the spire was only added in 1859. This addition did not constitute a restoration of the original spire, very damaged and dismantled during the Revolution, but a original creation, which made some people cringe. But the time was one of optimism and she was not afraid to make her mark. She readily saw a building as a living object, which evolved with the times. Let us recall that this was the case of the 'original' building, if that word can be used, whose construction took place over nearly two centuries (1163 to 1345). The identical reconstruction of Reims Cathedral, after its destruction during the First World War, will mark the end of this optimism. The era will no longer dare to leave its mark; it will be content to be archaic, that is to say, to venerate the past as being intrinsically superior to the present. The historian Arnold Toynbee explained that in order to function, a society needed to rely on a source of legitimacy. This could be found in the past (great men, wise old men, great authors, the golden age, etc.) or in the future (innovators, entrepreneurs, etc.). It seems that French society has chosen the past. When will there be such mobilization, such enthusiasm, for the future?

The second lesson is that this success was only possible by circumventing common law. The restoration of Notre-Dame would never have been possible in such a short time if we had respected construction law. To achieve this, the State has therefore decided to free itself from this right. This obviously poses a problem which is the following: we claim to live in a state of law. This concept designates a state in which public power is subject to the rules of law. The State decides and enforces the law, but also submits to it. With the restoration of Notre-Dame, and this is not the first time, the State decides that the law is for others. By doing so, the State recognizes in factand even, one could say, de jurethat our law makes excellence impossible. This is only possible if we bypass it. It therefore becomes the exception and not the rule. This cannot but question us.

“Where danger grows, that which saves also grows. » – Holderlin

How can we explain that we are engaged in a process of confinement that is as methodical as it is determined? How can we explain that more and more aspects of our daily or professional life are strictly supervised and regulated? Agriculture is suffocating and dying under finicky and stupid regulations, and the same goes for real estate, automobiles, distribution, vocational training and so many other sectors. I meet many players in the economy, managers, executives, association leaders but also those responsible for the public sector and the administration or local authorities, and everywhere the cry is the same: we will die suffocated under the millimeter regulations. The country is now handed over to the controllers… out of control. Excellence becomes impossible. It will only occur exceptionally, when political will meets a demand for prestige, and it will be the tree that hides the forest; the exception that will prove the rule. We are mobilizing for a cathedral and a major sporting event but we are letting entire sectors of our economy and our collective life die without a sigh. The obsession with prestige, and the dedication of exceptional resources to such projects, is the mark of countries in decline, not of countries betting on the future.

Leave it to us

This confinement to the norm and to control which stifles excellence should be a cause for concern but it is, paradoxically, also a cause for hope, because it points towards the solution. The energy and talent of the French are there, intact. Everyone sees them every day. So let them do it. The excellence of the restoration of Notre-Dame must become the norm, that it can be done within the framework of common law, and not by circumventing it. Let's change this right. Let's release the shackles and we will release this energy that we need so much. Chick?

✚ On the subject of optimism, you can read my previous articles: Mimicry, an essential mental model for building the future, And optimism was a good idea? Pascal's bet on innovation.

???? If you liked this article, please feel free to subscribe to be notified of upcoming ones by email (“Subscribe” further down on this page). You can also follow me on LinkedIn and on Twitter/X. You can also subscribe in ???? format podcast ???? articles via your favorite platform. See the list here.