“The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a recommendation.” — Walter Isaacson/Elon Musk We live in a spreadsheet society. Columns of Categories of People and Rows of Wants, Needs, and Desires. This model is too simplistic. What is needed, and Big Data can provide, is a more sophisticated approach.
This author is working on a book to be published in early 2025 that addresses issues about the decision to procure and implement today’s exploding technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). So, for this edition, we wanted to try something new. We are going to ask Chat GPT how to sell Artificial Intelligence and glean knowledge
Creative destruction is the dismantling of long-standing practices in order to make way for innovation and is seen as a driving force of capitalism. We live in an era of hyper-change. Technology to be sure, but all social constructs are under duress. The question is, how will all of us at an individual level deal with
Oh My, I am Swamped by this Firehose of New Technologies. How can I Understand, Much Less Use These Tools? Like most of us, our job is not about new bigger, better, faster IT. We have the daily grind to attend to and quarterly metrics to make. What we need from IT providers (internal and
Organizational Conflict may not be visible. Passive Aggressive executives may not exhibit the classic signs of stress. The stresses of everyday business are well understood by those in that mix. Each individual has an agenda based on his/her personal desires as well as organizational job description and target (goal) requirements. By definition, this puts all
According to one source, “The (Halloween) tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.” Is your organization dressing up to fight for an old dead culture? The Answer is NO, Even if it Kills Me!! Decades an organization I know well acquired
In our forthcoming book, “Navigating the Data Minefields: Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making” we coined the term, Valid, Reliable and Timely (VRT). “This term identifies all data dimensions including its temporal component.” Check Up When we go to the doctor we expect that the information conferred by this professional is Correct, Consistent with the current
When asked when something is needed, how many of us have heard or even said, “I need it yesterday?” Our world is turning faster all the time. The now quaint old phrase, “Internet is like dog years. One human year is equal to seven Internet years” now seems like slow motion. Change is all around us
Hard to believe that 13 years ago the offshore oil and gas industry changed forever. On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, later sank. “Approximately 134 million gallons of oil had spilled into the Gulf, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.” One recent LinkedIn comment suggested that nothing had changed
We are offered the world at the tip of our fingers, But! There are many prices to pay. Theft by scam simply by clicking on a great opportunity is getting more sophisticated all the time. Recently, this pundit was offered a once in a lifetime possibility if only I would listen to an MS Office
As of this writing, the situation in Ukraine is fluid at best. Many see the Ukrainian people as heroes winning against all odds. Other pundits predict they will be overwhelmed in the near future. History suggests the later is a premature prognosis. In the 1940’s European resistance played a major role in the defeat of
Almost every day, we hear that “The Science” says . . . We are told Covid-19 and Climate Change are based on The Science and as such we must accept that expert analyses as ‘settled.’ Then something changes and once more the science police demand we accept their new interpretation. The near-term result: confusion and
The writing instrument, the pencil is purported to have been invented in 1795. It has been around for a while and continues to serve a useful purpose. In the following video, the late economist Milton Friedman describes the process for manufacturing this simple longstanding tool. The point he makes is that regardless of the simplicity
Attributed to former US Senator and Governor Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, “Trust is built with consistency.” Moreover, from statistics we know that Internal Consistency, “measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores.” The follow on definition statistical reliability, “is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring
“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” — Napoleon Bonaparte Volumes have been written on decision-making and this pundit has offered his share of insight and comment on the subject as well. Some of our comments regard the appropriateness of the human intercession in electronic decision making. Others
“A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers” — Ari Melber, Journalist Currently, organizations are being implored to implement Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) driven business models. Proponents even suggest that investment in organizations that do not have this imprimatur should be avoided or even divested. However, one wonders what has
I Need a Book Deal! With the change of the US federal administration, previous key individuals are now coming out and writing books regarding their former boss. This all the while with plenty of video evidence where these individuals pontificated a position and even changed their position dramatically while in the employ and in
Not the So-Called New Normal The light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel may not be the train many still believe. Populations are being inoculated at very high rates. Moreover, there is ample evidence in my metropolitan area that the general population no longer believes or adheres to the ‘advice of experts.’ This
A Year of Leadership–Or Not! On March 2, 2021 the Governor of Texas announced its 100% reopening–effectively proclaiming an end of the Covid-19 crisis. Needless to say in our hyper-partisan world, many widely decried the decision and even accused him or bringing physical death to the state population. Mississippi announced a similar rollback of virus
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” ~ W. Edwards Deming Data and its use is a very hot topic these days. Significant controversy exists over decision making regarding Covid-19 strategies and the quality or lack there of the data supporting government policies. Scientific disagreements and so called ‘academic arguments‘ are appropriate, especially
Crisis Drives Change In 2001 this writer approached the Houston medical community, post tropical storm Allison which flooded many basements in the Houston Medical Center with the loss of experimental data and other records. We proposed the development of an Internet based solution to hold and manage medical records of all types. The response to
Melvin—a story of growth. At beginning of my oil and gas career, I was partnered with my mentor to be and at the time my supervisor; Melvin. A gruff old cuss, he was a long-time south Louisiana ‘Cajun’ field engineer. Little did I know at the time the next months would be life changing for
Lessons in Leadership—how dare you put young people in jeopardy for loss of life or failures they will live with the rest of their life? As we end Veteran’s Week, we are reminded of President Herbert Hoover’s comment, “Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.” Hoover was president
“If it disagrees with experiment, its wrong” Our point today is to assess how behavioral decisions are being made today; not about the politics of one candidate or the other. The race to the US presidential election has entered its final phase. As of this writing, establishment wisdom holds the conventional candidate as the presumptive
Managing Tension at the Margin As September draws to a close the Houston metropolitan area has dodged two hurricane bullets; Laura and Beta. Fingers crossed that this very active season draws to an early and quiet close. The beauty and downside of the 24/7 news and weather reporting is that lay people learn more jargon
Not as Easy as it Seems When transforming this website to the Word Press platform, this author accepted the “wisdom” of various online sources and used a so called up and coming new Page Builder. A huge mistake! After many failures and indeed public page lockups, I changed to a more established solution—the one used
Current events may have us all longing for the ‘good ole days.’ Sounds good on paper but not something any of us can realize. Nostalgia aside we all must continue to slog on. It is after all a one-way trip and there is no Delorean to help us. The Challenge of Change People change all
In a recent Harvard Business Review, I was struck by an article about Best Practices for small businesses. From that piece, “To successfully navigate Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) challenges like Covid-19, family business leaders can look to best practices from another organization that specializes in VUCA situations—the U.S. military’s Special Operations Forces (SOF)”
Let me understate, ‘working in the petroleum sector has always been challenging.’ Now we find ourselves in a major economic downturn caused by a Covid-19 pandemic and aided and abetted by an international crude oil price war. Once again, many thousands have lost their livelihood and possibly not return to a similar job as the
April 20, 2020 marks the tenth anniversary of one of the most horrific incidents in the upstream oil and gas sector—Deepwater Horizon. In addition to the tragic loss of eleven lives, the sector forever changed. Immediate restructuring of federal oversight resulted in the establishment of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and their
