Is Vision Casting A Waste Of Time?

Pastors chiefly rely on inspiration and encouragement to move people to advance the church’s agenda. One of the main ways to do this is vision casting. Vision casting is meant to motivate the church toward a preferable future and one cannot attend a pastor’s conference without someone speaking on vision. Mega-church pastor Andy Stanley, Visioneering, writes, “Vision evokes emotion. There is no such thing as emotionless vision. . . . Vision provides motivation. . . . Vision-driven people are motivated people.” So we cast the vision in hope that the church will catch it, grow and advance the Kingdom of God.
However, Jim Collins in Good to Great, writes, “Doesn’t motivation flow chiefly from a compelling vision? The answer, surprisingly, is, ‘No.’ Not because vision is unimportant, but because expending energy trying to motivate people is largely a waste of time. One of the dominant themes that runs throughout this book is that if you successfully implement its findings, you will not need to spend the energy “motivating” people. If you have the right people on the bus, they will be self-motivated.” For Collins, having the “right people on the bus” means having the right people in the key leadership positions of your organization (see more below, “Small Church”).
Admittedly, Jim Collins is writing for the business community not the church, and we recognize pastors are not CEOs. But where does that leave us? Is vision casting still “largely a waste of time.” Vision doesn’t last precisely because it is based on emotion. Even Andy Stanley has a chapter on how to maintain the vision because he knows vision dissipates.
Maybe the bigger question is why Christians are not self-motivated toward advancing the Kingdom of God through their church?
What has been your experience with vision casting? Is it largely a waste of time? Is there anything better a pastor can do?