Corporate governance is not an area usually associated with vision, imagination, or even integrity. This needs to change.In this lecture I have looked at corporate governance through the eyes of William Blake.Blake was a visionary, a man to whom imagination, energy and integrity were central. I argue that much of the compliance burden companies face is self-imposed. Business creates the problem when it begins its approach to every new code by saying “how do we comply” instead of asking “What is the spirit of this code? Do we accept it? If yes, how do we fulfil the spirit?