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Human—Machine Interface in the Age of Digitalization: Can the Machine be Trusted and When Should the Human Intervene?

March 24, 2019 No Comments

On March 10, 2019 the second Boeing 737 Max 8 (in approximately 5 months) crashed in Ethiopia. This incident has led to extensive investigations and as of this writing that model aircraft is grounded. This pundit cannot and will not hazard a guess as to ‘why’ this aviation incident happened and what its ramifications will

Operational Complexity: Risk Model Insufficiency

March 8, 2019 No Comments

Most readers will be familiar with the above linear Risk Matrix Model. This graphical representation of risk exposure is useful but strict adherence to it can lead to a false sense of security. Systemic Risk Management The real world is very complex with many moving parts. The potential interaction of processes, events and other challenges

Decision Making in the Digitalization Age: Who Decides?

March 5, 2019 No Comments

“Ergonomics (or Human Factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.” According to Gartner, “Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a

Fleeting Success: In Pursuit of Sustainability

February 14, 2019 No Comments

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” The late Prime Minister nailed it; once again! Our journey through life, including our career is a marathon not a sprint. While we celebrate success, often at happy hour or a party, we

Three Years—Ten Months: How did they do it?

February 4, 2019 No Comments

The United States officially entered World War II on December 8, 1941. The war in the Pacific formally ended on September 2, 1945. A recent documentary on one of the history channels chronicled the path the United States took from a nation with an underdeveloped military to global dominance over this period. What struck this

Beat the Market: Can Operational Excellence Increase EPS?

January 30, 2019 No Comments

In a recent Houston Chronicle article, its author puts forth the premise that while oil and gas companies should do well in the stock market this year, don’t expect the energy services sector to fare as well. As those who are either in the sector or track it (stock analysts) know all to well that

Bull or Bear: Is there gold in them there markets?

January 11, 2019 No Comments

Are we on the verge of another California gold rush, boom market or depression? No one knows. What is certain; risk mitigation must be central to any business model. This year may be especially challenging for the oil industry. Recently, conventional wisdom is downgrading average crude oil prices for 2019. Reasons include a plentiful supply

Resolution: Celebrating a New Operational Start–One More Time

January 7, 2019 No Comments

It is hard to believe we are now 19 years into the century. Seems like only yesterday we were worried whether the lights would stay on at Y2K. Each year many of us promise to do better at a list of things, some personal and some professional. Some days or weeks later, some or all

Mission Accomplished: Santa Completes Another Worldwide Transit—Incident Free!

December 26, 2018 No Comments

Every December 24th, this jolly ole elf embarks on one more global initiative. We know this to be true because each year since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD and its predecessor the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado have tracked his operation–www.noradsanta.org. We are happy to report

Millennials Take On Our Increasingly Complex World

October 31, 2018 No Comments

Originally published in 2013. On January 1st at 0348 hours a young engineer employed by a service company is trying to address a problem she has encountered with a compressor on a drilling rig in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. She graduated from college three years ago and went to work for a large energy

Command and Control: Is this the Way to Run the modern Railroad?

October 29, 2018 No Comments

The managerial model, Command and Control (C&C) dates back to the dawn of humanity when tribal chieftains dictated the behavior of the group. It survives to this day in many forms. Typically, one thinks of military operations as the current manifestation of C&C in the western world. According to Wikipedia, by one definition found in

Selling Your Economic Value Proposition to the C Suite: Translating Technology to the Language of Business

October 18, 2018 No Comments

The challenge of building a Business Case for CAPEX investments with high intangible content, i.e., IoT, professional services and operational excellence, remains difficult. Many also argue that disruptive new business models are making the old ways irrelevant. Hence, we simply must make the investment to remain competitive. After all, everyone is doing it. A matter

Are You In Distress?

July 13, 2018 No Comments

During a recent offshore sail from Florida to Texas the weather significantly deteriorated on this blogger and his boat mates. Our 45-foot ocean going sailboat was one in which (mostly) the same crew that has significant sea time together. That said, there were two days of very uncomfortable passage making. At one-point a nearby ship

Love to Have the Opportunity to Learn About Your Company: I Know I Can Help

June 22, 2018 No Comments

It seems that the preferred CRM Cold Call script goes something like this, ”I’d love to jump on a call with you and learn more about your company. I am sure we can help.” Really? The roots of this approach may be from the “Sell me this pen” sales model whereby the sales representative queries

Are Organizational Governance Models Broken: Why Can’t Management Get a Handle on Things?

May 27, 2018 No Comments

Over 15 years ago, organizations such as Enron, Worldcom, Tysons, and others failed after massive managerial maleficence and even criminality. Enron’s auditor, Arthur Andersen folded as well. The result of this carnage was the imprisonment of many, the death (apparent heart attack) of the disgraced former CEO of Enron, suicides, massive shareholder value destruction and

Is Your Digitalized Organization Cybersecure?

April 15, 2018 No Comments

Here is How to Find Out! It seems that everyday a new major cyber breach is announced. The Rapid Response Institute and its Principals have addressed this issue many times through a variety of venues and publications. We recently conducted a workshop, “Implementing Digitalization: A Game Changing Transformation of the E&P Sector.” The Cybersecurity of

Organizational Predators: Jackals, Hyenas, and Wolves in Managerial Clothing

January 25, 2018 No Comments

Prologue In the author’s August 2004 edition of the then, Executive Briefing Newsletter (early online delivery) we addressed the impact on the firm of managerial misbehavior. This article was one of a list of challenges put forth to that generation of management. Sadly, recent events have compelled us all to revisit this issue, although for

A New Relationship

January 10, 2018 No Comments

This time of year, many make the so-called New Year’s Resolutions and make a personal if not short-term commitment to modify behaviors deemed as needing change. Typical personal commitments include, losing weight, getting more exercise, becoming a better spouse/partner, etc. Unfortunately, most of these behavioral changes go by the wayside in short order. Many reasons

Excellent Behaviors: Assessing Relationships in the Operational Excellence Ecosystem

December 22, 2017 No Comments

One of the hot business buzzwords of 2017 is “Operational Excellence.” It has been the subject for many pundits, including this one. In October and November we published a two part series, Assuring Operational Excellence from Contractors and Their Subcontractors through BTOES Insights. Each part included a link to additional information. The October edition featured

Precedent Matters: Physical and Cyber Security Materiality

November 28, 2017 No Comments

Cyber-attacks continue, seemingly unabated. Major industrial incidents seem to remain regardless of efforts to curtail them as well. In many cases significant shareholder value is destroyed and perhaps never to be regained. Lives are lost and business models compromised. In isolated incidents, senior executives “retire.” Usually, it is business as usual until the next time