Enron: lord of the rings, revisited

Abstract

y now, everyone knows about the failure of Enron, once the country’s seventh largest company in revenues. As a four-year veteran of Enron who worked on projects from Chile to China, I believe the success and failure of Enron can be explained fairly easily. The company succeeded because of its people and their ideas. It failed because of poor leadership. Hopes for Enron’s recovery from bankruptcy have faded as revelations continue to stun and insult shareholders, employees, and Congress. Even its survival is now in question. To survive, Enron must recover and recombine three critical elements to ignite the performance for which it was known because at its core a successful company is made up only of people, ideas, and leadership. The Fellowship of the Ring In the years leading up to the bankruptcy, Enron’s employees were known as an amazing collection of intellect, capability, and drive. The company’s reputation attracted the best and brightest seeking to compete at the highest level. Recruiters in the city and beyond, in the industry, saw Enron as a place to recruit from but rarely to place candidates. Those who were able to stake out a spot and survive there were energetic, aggressive, creative, entrepreneurial, and adaptable. Their vigor and intensity were the stuff of corporate myth in the industry and contributed to the environment of achievement for which Enron was legendary. Surviving for five years at Enron gave your resume a special cache, marking you as competitive and able to play in the big leagues. Someone once joked that water fountains